Minnie's Magical Memories
by ginnyjaffa
Summary: Ever wondered what Professor McGonagall's views were on all Harry and co.'s adventures?  She has just arrived in Above and has years of stories to tell.  The Marauders and friends are especially eager to listen.
1. Meeting Minnie

**A/N: New story! YAY! some of you may have read this chapter but be patient, it leads into the story nicely :) If you haven't read Above and Beyond you can still read this story and understand but it would give you more background information. Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HP. JK Rowling=genius**

* * *

**SIRIUS POV**

"For the last time, Sirius, we're not buying ten packets of chocolate frogs!"

"Why not?"

"Because it would cost too much and we're already on a budget, they're not good for your health and frankly, Siri, you really can't afford to put on any more weight—"

"Hey!"

"And finally, the most important reason, ITS STUPID!"

Uh oh, Lilyflower was mad. I couldn't really see why, to be honest. All I had asked for were a few more boxes of chocolate frogs! I desperately wanted an Albus Dumbledore card, but for some reason they were very scarce in Above.

I turned on my most charming smile, "But Lily, my dearest, most beautifullest flower, you know how much I want that Dumbledore card. Just a few more—"

"NO!" Her face was starting to turn as red as her hair, and I knew from years of experience of getting on her bad side that the reddening of the face was _not _a good sign. I backed away warily, my hands raised in surrender as I moved out of her hitting zone. She glared at me, "Sirius Black! I am _never _taking you shopping again! All you have done for the last hour is whine and beg for more sweets. You will take the two frogs you were given, the ones I am happy to pay for, and you will like them, regardless of the person inside. Got it?"

I looked away, avoiding her eyes. I couldn't lie to her—she would see straight through it. Unfortunately she could also see through my evasion of her question. She got right up in my face, her eyes burning into mine.

"I said, got it?"

"Okay, Okay." I gave in, holding out my hand for the first frog. She handed it over with a resigned sigh and I unwrapped it happily. I popped it into my mouth before it could hop away and chewed the delicious chocolate. I turned the card over excitedly, but groaned in disappointment as I noticed the familiar face. "Not this one again! I have so bloody many of this guy! He's so over-exposed!"

"Who is it?" Lily asked as she shoved two out of the thousand shopping bags we had into my arms.

"Harry," I grumbled, "I swear, he is the only card Above has."

Lily stopped walking, still managing to put her hands on her hips despite the many bags she was carrying. "Harry? As in my son and your godson. That Harry?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, the other Harry Potter with the lightning bolt scar who defeated Lord Voldemort and saved the Wizarding World."

She didn't seem to appreciate my joke, for some reason. Sometimes I really don't see what Prongs loves about her so much. I mean, she's really quite attractive, kind, generous and caring and… well okay, I can see what he loves about her. But sometimes she can have no sense of humour.

Also, she can be right scary when she's angry. Now being the perfect example. Lily has always been the only women who could honestly scare me apart from my mother (who only terrified me so much because I knew she would have actually killed me if she had got a good enough shot in) and Professor McGonagall (but I knew she always loved me, somewhere deep, deep down).

"Sirius," Lily said in her scary tone of voice, dragging me from my thoughts, "You really shouldn't speak about my son like that, let alone your godson! Think of all he's been through! Without us! He deserves every chocolate frog card he has, here and on earth. He was the one who defeated Voldemort for Merlin's sake and—"

Thankfully, she was cut from her rant when a woman in around her mid-thirties ran out of nowhere crying, "Lily! It is you! Oh, it's so good to see you!" and hugged her tightly.

I barely registered the woman's brown hair pulled back tightly into a very familiar-looking bun before I noticed Lily's face over her shoulder. Her expression clearly showed her surprise and there was a hint of fear in her eyes as well.

The shock that was also evident on her features sent me into a fit of gasping laughter. After a moment I bent over my knees, one hand clutching them for support while the other arm was around my stomach as a laughed loudly.

While I was in my fit, the hugging woman turned from Lily and faced me with a strange expression. Her eyes were shining with happiness, gleaming behind her glasses, but her mouth was set into a frown that aged and lined her face ten years.

"Sirius Black!" she shouted and at the sound of her voice came the sudden realisation of who she was, which snapped me from my laughter quickly.

"Professor McGonagall?"

**LILY**

I didn't even get the chance to wonder who the familiar voice that called my name belonged to before whoever it was engulfed me in a tight hug.

I could feel the surprise on my face as I was hugged by a complete stranger, yet I couldn't stop the embarrassed indignation that rose up inside me when Sirius started laughing at me as if it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. And he has seen some funny things. Trust me.

However, for some strange reason, at the sound of my immature friend's raucous laughter the stranger mercifully let go of me to face Sirius.

When she snapped his name in a manner and tone that I would know anywhere, having heard it everyday from my favourite professor at Hogwarts, it suddenly clicked in my mind who it was.

Sirius evidently had been following roughly the same thought process because when she called his name, his head flicked up and his eyes opened wide. His mouth opened and then closed a few times before he seemed to find his voice.

"Professor McGonagall?"

She sighed, "I haven't been your teacher for over 60 years, Black, and yet you still call me Professor?"

He grinned immediately and I rolled my eyes as his face took on the cheeky look that I used to see everyday at school and had hoped to never see again.

"I'm terribly sorry, Minnie," he smirked, "I shall make a conscious effort to remember to never be so rude as to call you Professor again. You know, you were always so determined to prove that you hated it when I called you Minnie at school but I knew you were never telling the truth."

He hugged her tightly, even lifting her off the ground slightly in his enthusiasm. I caught a glimpse of a grin on her face, an action I knew was quite rare for her to make, having only seen it a few times while I was alive and the sight of it made me smile in return.

I shook my head, still smiling, "That was a bad idea, Minerva." Her first name rolled off my tongue easily, having called her that in the Order meetings we had all attended after finishing school. "Now he won't stop with that silly nickname. And just wait until he tells James, they will probably torture you endlessly, falling into the old school pattern. As much as I would like to think they have matured since you last saw them, I don't like to lie."

McGonagall turned to properly face me again and I was disarmed to see the changes in her face—not just in the physical appearance and features, but also in her expressions. Her mostly wrinkle-free face, happy eyes and gentle smile were stark differences to how she looked the last time I saw her and it made me slightly uncomfortable. I didn't know where I stood with her anymore.

"Lily," she smiled, walking slowly towards me, her soft expression lingering, "I'm sorry I gave you a bit of a fright before. I was just so happy to see you after such a long time and with such a horribly sudden…end."

Flattered that just catching sight of me had triggered a reaction like that from Minerva McGonagall, I smiled. "It's fine. I'm really happy to see you too, Minerva." I glanced back at Sirius who was still grinning widely. "We both are."

"You bet!" he agreed enthusiastically, once again bursting with energy. "And just wait until James and Remus and Nikki see you again!" He grabbed us both by the wrists and started tugging us towards the exit. "Come on! No time to waste!"

By the time we got back to my house, McGonagall and I were both out of breath, still being dragged by the four year old trapped inside a twenty year old's body.

"Sirius!" I puffed as we reached the front door, "Nikki and Remus aren't even here and I'm assuming you don't want Minerva to have to repeat her story more then once, do you?"

He looked at me with what could only be described as disappointment, which I thought was pretty ironic considering the topic of our last argument. "Lily," he scoffed, "The only things I learnt in Minnie's classes," he glanced at her quickly, "No offence of course, Professor M, is" he began counting them off his fingers, "Never try to transfigure yourself on the first go without someone else who knows the counter curse watching nearby, never use transfiguration as a form of pranking or revenge unless you want some kind of death wish, and that Minnie does _not _like to repeat herself." He paused, looking quite pleased with himself at the lessons had learnt over the period of seven years, as if they were life lessons you couldn't live without. They probably were, in his mind.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm going to get Moony and Nikki now, so don't let our favourite professor spill any juicy secrets without me there!"

I rolled my eyes and invited McGonagall inside while he scampered off. James was sitting in the kitchen reading _The Daily Prophet _when McGonagall and I walked in.

He glanced up and smiled, folding the newspaper. "Lily! I thought you were going to be hours more. I'm impressed." He only seemed to notice my companion when he stood up to help me with the shopping bags.

His eyes flickered from me to our guest uncertainly. "Er, Lils? Did you transfigure Sirius into a woman? Because as much as I love you, I really wouldn't appreciate you adding…womanly parts to my best friend."

Before I could snap at him, McGonagall beat me to the punch.

"James Potter!" she scolded, "That is no way to talk to your wife! Especially with a guest in the house, even if they are your friend, or you think they are. And you should know that transfiguration between genders is extremely dangerous unless you have the appropriate and essential knowledge of the subject!"

James stood there for a moment, stunned, before he squinted at her, clearly trying to place the familiar voice and expressions. When it clicked, his mouth dropped open comically.

"Professor McGonagall?" he gasped. But before she could answer, he broke into a huge grin and wrapped her up in his arms. "Minnie! Oh, how I've missed my favourite Transfiguration professor!"

She smiled again and for a moment it lit up her whole face but by the time James let her go it had passed.

"It's very good to see you, James." She said, her tone and facial expressions back to normal, "It is good to see the both of you," she amended, looking between us before heaving a sigh that seemed painful and heavy, as if there was a whole life of sadness behind it. "It was such a shock when you were…killed. I was the first to arrive, you know, after Albus of course." Her face was drawn in sadness and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn I saw a tear in her brown eye. "Poor Harry, left all alone to those muggles. I didn't see him for eleven years, but Albus always kept me in touch with how he was progressing, of course."

Her eyes stared vaguely at the wall as James and I led her into the lounge room, as if she was seeing into another time, a deep memory. "I remember when I first saw him at Hogwarts. I was the first teacher they met and they looked positively terrified, as all first years do." There was that smile again!

James scoffed obnoxiously as we sat next to her on the couch, "I wasn't scared. I'd already met you before."

"Never in the school environment, James. And I know you played it off like you knew everything and could handle anything but you were as nervous as the others."

"I was terrified," I admitted. I could still remember how sick I felt as we were led up to the steps that went into the Great Hall and I saw the intimidating, towering figure of the woman currently sitting next to me.

McGonagall nodded, acknowledging she had already noticed that. "I saw the same fear I remember you having in Harry's face. He looked so much like you, James, it was as though you were back at Hogwarts again. Even though he looked so terrified, I could still imagine him wreaking havoc on the students and teachers just like his father did."

"Bet you loved that idea." James laughed.

She shook her head wryly, her mouth lifted slightly at the corners, "I wasn't particularly excited, I admit, but when I saw his eyes my fears were dashed. They were exactly the same as yours, Lily, and somehow I knew that the little physical feature of his mother would reflect as a larger part of his personality, calming his natural sense of pranking and trouble-making. It did, I was right, but it didn't hinder his rule-breaking—that was a Potter habit that was too deeply ingrained in his blood."

James grinned again, just as Sirius burst into the room. The king of perfect timing was accompanied by Nikki and Remus, both looking mighty frazzled.

They smiled when they saw the Professor sitting on the couch and they both hurried over to her, greeting her with tight hugs.

"Hi Minerva," Remus grinned as he, Nikki and Sirius sat down on the couch opposite us. "It's really good to see you."

"You too, Remus and Nikki, of course." McGonagall said, "I'm glad to see you both here and happy. I was so upset when both your lives were cut so short and so harshly."

Nikki shrugged in her usual, easy-going manner, "That's okay. Well, it wasn't for a long time, for either of us, but I know I've made my peace with it all now. It has been over seventy years, after all, and now I'm here with my best friends and I'm happy. Besides, I was never one to hold a grudge, I'm sure you know that."

"Indeed I do," McGonagall nodded, "I always remember you as the rational one of you little group."

Remus frowned at not being called rational, but he was smiling along with the rest of us despite himself and he didn't push the issue.

We sat in silence for a moment, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was like this was a completely normal thing for us all—part of a routine that was easy and comfortable. Even though it wasn't spoken, I knew we were all thinking back, remembering those simple days that we thought were so complicated. Transfiguration was a particularly fun class for us because it was the only lesson we had where we were all seven of us were together.

I had thought it was torture for half the year because McGonagall forced me to sit next to James, the boy I thought I hated. We were already Heads of School together and were therefore forced to share a common room so I thought it was terribly unfair that I had to put up with sitting next to him in class too, even though it was only one lesson. Luckily for the both of us, it was a lot easier to be with him then I thought and eventually Transfiguration morphed into something entertaining and fun for me, rather then being something I dreaded coming to.

The dislike James and I had for each other, or at least the dislike I had for James, gradually turned into love and after we were married once we were out of school, we made sure to thank McGonagall for not listening to my constant complaining and protests and forcing me to sit next to him. He started off as being the boy I couldn't stand, but eventually became the boy I couldn't stand to live without.

"So what did we miss?" Sirius asked, barely containing his eagerness.

"Minnie was just explaining how she thought Harry had inherited my natural trouble-making ability." James supplied, with arrogance in his voice and still grinning hugely.

Remus and Nikki smiled while Sirius laughed loudly.

"That would have made things interesting for you, Minerva," Nikki said, "At least he didn't have these other two," she jerked her thumb towards Sirius and Remus, who looked hurt, "helping him with his mischievous plans."

"That's true," McGonagall conceded, "but he did have Ron and Hermione, and although they didn't quite reach the level of scheming as the Marauders did," she sent a pointed glance their way and all three of them grinned, "what those three got up to while they were at school caused more mischief then your school endeavours, I'm afraid boys."

James, Sirius and even Remus stared at her, offended and outraged.

"Not even possible," James snorted at the same time Sirius cried, "Nonsense!"

Remus just shook his head as if he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was hearing.

"But they did," McGonagall maintained her dignified and determined manner, "Not as many prank pulling, just more rule-breaking. Most of the time it was to help someone else who was in some sort of trouble. Life of death or otherwise. I'm sure you've all heard the stories from various sources."

Sirius nodded with what I'm sure he thought was a pensive face, his hands clasped in front of him, his fingers pointed upwards like a very bad impression of Dumbledore. "Numerous times, but not from your point of view, oh wise Minnie McGonagall. Do tell."

She rolled her eyes at his antics, but after a moment of thoughtful silence she nodded and started to tell.

* * *

**A/N: I think most of you can figure out whats going to happen in the following chapters. You're all so smart after all :) there won't be many chapters (just warning you) so it will be shorter story but hopefully a fun one to read!**

**REVIEWS = LOVE**


	2. Impressive?

**DISCLAIMER: HP belongs to JK Rowling and we all know it :(**

**Here we go, first year!**

* * *

McGonagall paused, thinking for a moment. They wanted to hear a story? Something from her point of view that obviously involved Harry in some way. Well, there were a lot of memories to choose from. So much so that she couldn't even think of where to start. After a moment of contemplation she decided to start where everything usually starts—the beginning.

"Hmm, what story should I tell first?" She wondered out loud, just to tease them a little, to draw out the suspense, "I know, how about I begin with how Harry and Ron became friends with Hermione?"

"Good idea, Minnie." Sirius nodded even though it was clearly a rhetorical question, "I've always liked this story."

Remus smiled wryly, "Of course you do Sirius, it involves two of your favourite things: weird magical creatures and plots to get girls."

"Right you are, Moony. You know me well. Hey!" Sirius cried suddenly, "That reminds me of a story of my own. Well, really it is James's as he was stupid enough to do it, but I was watching so I could tell it better." James furrowed his brow, sifting through his many outrageous and funny actions to try and decipher which one Sirius was talking about.

"It really is rather funny," Sirius was still talking animatedly, "A real tale of bravery and charm and drastic measures—" he stopped himself upon catching McGonagall's stare. "But that can wait until later. Shut up everyone, I want to listen to Minnie's story!"

"Ooh, goody." Nikki grinned, "I do love stories."

"Yes, you're a bit weird that way." James winked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"SSHHHH!" Sirius hissed loudly at them. "Minnie's trying to tell her story! Geez guys, have some respect!"

McGonagall seemed to have to refrain from rolling her eyes before starting. "It was the beginning of the school year, a couple of months in. We were all in the Great Hall having dinner when Professor Quirrell came running in, screaming about there being a troll in the dungeons. Naturally, the students started to panic, screaming and running about with no direction. After Dumbledore had managed to organise them to head back to their common rooms, all us teachers went swiftly to the dungeons—we couldn't waste any time, as this troll could be a threat to the students. I didn't even notice that Severus wasn't with us as we headed to where Quirrell had sent us.

"When we found nothing in the dungeons, I began to worry about the situation a little more. The castle, as you all very well know, is not exactly small and it could have taken us hours to find the troll, no matter how big it was. We ran through corridors, trying to locate this Mountain Troll." She frowned for a moment as if concentrating on something at the back of her mind. "I suppose I realised Severus wasn't with us about the time we were searching the corridors, but to be honest, I didn't think much of it—I was too worried for the students. In hindsight, I really shouldn't have brushed it off like I did but I was really in a bit of a panic."

"When we reached the floor of the girls lavatory, we heard shouting, a girl screaming and something definitely big and heavy thumping about. We were heading for the door when there was a big bang and we all ran into the bathroom to see this huge Mountain Troll," she held out her arms as far away from her body as they could go to illustrate it's massive size, almost slapping James, who was sitting next to her, in the face.

"Harry was standing beside it, looking at where his wand was sticking out of its nose. Ron was staring in shock and Hermione was just climbing out from under the sinks, where she had obviously been taking cover. It didn't take a genius, or even a teacher for that matter, to figure out what had happened."

She leaned forward a little, looking intently at her audience, "To be honest, I was incredibly impressed. They hadn't even been at Hogwarts for half a year and Harry and Hermione didn't even know that magic existed before they got their letters. But, because I was a teacher, let alone their Head of House, I had to inflict some kind of punishment for not being safe and sound in the Gryffindor common room."

"But secretly, you wanted to give them a medal." James grinned, pride shining in his eyes.

McGonagall rolled hers, "Not a medal, no, but I admit I was impressed. Not many students have the guts to fight a giant magical creature _after_ they graduate Hogwarts, let alone before the end of their first year. They even did it to save a girl they barely even knew."

"Well, I think it was rather stupid!" Lily cried, looking very stressed indeed, "They just went looking for huge Mountain Troll, something they knew nothing about! And I agree that it was a very noble thing and very impressive that they managed to defeat it, but still! They could have been killed!" She looked around the room, willing everyone to agree with her, "Don't you think so?"

"Do we think it was a stupid thing to do?" Nikki asked, "Sure, it wasn't exactly thought through very well but that's kind of what boys do. They're very impulsive and stupid."

Sirius looked at Nikki with an offended expression, "Are you calling me stupid, Nik? I thought you loved me." He pulled a dramatic face, then started to pretend to cry loudly into his hands.

Nikki just laughed, stroking his hair, "Of course I love you Siri, but yes, I am saying you are stupid. Not at everything!" She continued quickly when he glared at her, "But at making decisions and acting impulsively and with the things you do to get girls." She shook her head with a smile.

"Excuse me," James said, leaning towards her, "Don't you remember my elaborate ways to woo my darling Lily, here?" He grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her closer. Lily rolled her eyes at her best friend but James pretended he hadn't seen the mocking action and continued, "Men can be very cunning creatures!"

"Okay! Don't get so worked up!" Nikki giggled, "I'm not trying to start battle between the genders, because we all know the girls would win," she added under her breath.

McGonagall smiled and Lily nodded with a grin while James, Sirius and Remus gaped at her.

"What was that my love?" Sirius asked with raised eyebrows even though he had heard her perfectly.

"Nothing you haven't heard before, dear," Nikki teased, running her hand through his hair and letting it sit in there for a moment. When Sirius relaxed back into her hand, a wicked grin appeared on her face and she yanked the chunk of hair hard.

"OW!" Sirius screamed, in a tone that was impressively high. "Merlin's pants, woman!" he yelled at her while everyone else laughed loudly. McGonagall was the only one not laughing but she did have a smile on her face. "What the hell was that for?"

Nikki shrugged, "Just reminding you what I could do if you ever tried to challenge me."

Sirius scoffed, "You didn't need to rip out half my hair! You were continuously proving your power all through Hogwarts. Do you recall all the ridiculous and embarrassing plans James and I had to go through with just to even get you and Lily to go out with us once?"

"Padfoot!" James cut in, "Don't you complain about what you did! I had to do so much worse to even get Lily to talk to me! Nikki was just torturing you and embarrassing you for fun. Lily _actually _hated me and found some kind of sick joy in watching me make a fool of myself in front of the school."

"Please!" Lily snorted, "Anything you did to get my attention was also a plot to put the spotlight on yourself. If I remember correctly you seemed to not have any trouble with the females at Hogwarts when you weren't pathetically trying to impress me."

"Pathetic?" James gasped, highly affronted.

"Yes, pathetic. Don't deny that you only did half of them to make you seem better for the rest of the silly, shallow girls at school. They were obnoxious and pathetic attempts at getting attention."

James was no glaring at her, "Says the one who continuously picked fights with me just for the fun of it! Half the time it was just because you were bored!"

Lily was about to snap back when Remus shouted over the top of them, "STOP!" When they both looked at him in surprise he sighed, "This could go on for hours. You could both bring up all these moments from Hogwarts that were silly or embarrassing and keep trying to catch each other out, and you are welcome to do that on your own but can you _please_ save it for when the rest of us leave?"

"I agree with Remus," McGonagall said, "You are both acting as though you are back in my class at the beginning of your seventh year, bickering over the smallest things. Let's just settle this by saying that Lily, you were sometimes rather cruel to James when he came up with all his plans." Lily opened her mouth to protest but thought the better of it when McGonagall sent her the look. "And James, some of the things you did were rather clever, but most were, how did Lily describe them? Oh yes, pathetic."

James nodded and Lily was looking down at her lap. Suddenly, it was as though they were back in school, in Transfiguration and had been shouted at, yet again, by McGonagall for fighting in class.

"Cheer up, guys. Soon we will be able to look back on this conversation and laugh." Remus smiled, knowing that especially since they were married, Lily and James got very worked up when they fought because it meant so much more to them, even if they were just little ones.

"That's a hopeless idea, Remus." Nikki snorted, "Let's laugh about it now! I happen to have a story in mind that will showcase the pathetic things that James did for Lily but will also prove how Lily was rather cruel to him, while secretly being impressed."

Sirius pouted, "I was going to tell a story! I thought of it first so I get to go first!"

Nikki rolled her eyes, "It's probably the same story. What one were you going to tell?"

He leaned over and whispered it in her ear like it was a juicy secret that couldn't be heard by the rest of the group.

After he had properly recounted the story he was going to tell he leaned away and Nikki grinned, "We did think of the same story! I told you."

"Alike minds think great." Sirius nodded seriously.

"Er, Padfoot? I think the correct saying is 'great minds think alike'." Remus laughed.

"Whatever Moony," Sirius stuck out his tongue, "You think you know everything just because you're so smart and spend all day in the library and read lots of books and…you know everything…wait," he frowned, looking confused, "What I was saying?"

James laughed, "Forget it, just start telling the story, mate."

"Good idea, Prongs! I knew I kept you around for something!" Sirius said enthusiastically before starting his story.

"I do believe it was the end of the fifth year, just after our OWL's. Prongs woke up determined to make himself the only boy Lily would ever want to love, the only one she would look at and laugh with and smile at. Of course, he had the _little _problem of her absolutely hating him with the power of a thousand burning suns."

"Hey!" Lily protested, "I did not hate him with the power of a thousand burning suns!"

"Um, Lils, you kinda did." James said.

She shook her head adamantly, "I didn't, I promise. I never hated you. I just disliked you…a lot."

"Now even that's not true." Nikki supplied, "But ignore me for know. I will leave that comment hanging in suspense until the King of Stupid Stories over here finishes his bit."

"I will have you know I am the Prince of Amazing, Descriptive and Captivating Stories, thank you very much Nikola Jane Williamson." Sirius said with an arrogant tone.

Nikki sighed, "Just continue the story, oh wonderful Prince."

"Thank you," Sirius said before frowning with thought, "Now, where was I? Oh yeah.

"So, it was the day after our Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, which was incidentally also the day that Lily and Jamesie got in that huge fight out by the Black Lake because Prongs hung Snivellus upside down in front of the whole grade. Remember that?" he asked the room at large. When they all nodded with varying expressions—Lily and James were grimacing, Remus was frowning and Nikki was grinning—Sirius continued merrily.

"Well, when they were arguing, Lily said that she would never go out with James as long as the Giant Squid was still alive. So he decided that—"

"Hang on," Lily interrupted again, "I never said that! I said that I would never go out with James if it was a choice between him or the Giant Squid."

"Oh, close enough." Sirius muttered, "Fine. Lily said that she would never go out with James if it was a choice between him and the Giant Squid. So Prongs, being the idiot that he is, figured that the only way for him to convince Lily to go out with him would be if he kills the Giant Squid, because then he wouldn't have any competition, you see." He explained as if no one in the room had been following.

"So, after breakfast he wanders down to the Lake, all confident and brave and silly, ready to jump in and take on the Giant Squid. Of course, the Marauders and I all knew that it was a doomed mission and all he was going to do was make a fool of himself in front of Lily and the whole school."

"If you knew that then why didn't you stop me?" James asked, outraged.

"Because I knew it was going to be totally awesome and funny!" Sirius snorted, "Duh!"

Remus sighed, "I tried to talk you out of it but you wouldn't listen and well…I wanted to see Lily's face." He smiled sheepishly as James glared at him.

Sirius laughed, reaching over to high-five his friend. "Way to go, Moony! Lying to a friend to see him make an ass of himself. I've taught you well."

"Such good friends you lot are." James grumbled while Lily asked, "What about Peter?"

Shrugging, Sirius said, "He actually thought James was going to win."

Nikki laughed, "Really? He really thought James had a chance of beating that huge squid in—"

"Anyway!" Sirius cut over the top of her, "So Prongsie here marched out to the Lake, all determined and shit because he had deluded himself into thinking that Lily would love him once he killed the much loved and legendary Giant Squid. Mind you, its about 7 in the morning and its rather chilly outside, but James just strips off all his clothes except his underwear and dives into the Lake like it was life or death."

"Oh!" Lily suddenly gasped, "I remember seeing you dive in from my window! I never knew why you actually dove in though. I thought you were quite stupid."

"Gee, thanks for that input, Lil. That makes me feel so much better." James pouted and she laughed, hugging him.

Sirius glared at them. "Bloody friends always interrupting my stories." He muttered under his breath before continuing. "He was under for quite and while and we were getting a little worried about him. When I say we, I really mean Moony and Peter, because I had heaps of faith in you, Prongs." Sirius added hastily when seeing James's glare. "Then, all of a sudden, you see James being flung out of the water. I swear, he flew so high. It was like the height of the Astronomy Tower." Everyone gave him disbelieving looks and Sirius shrugged, "It was! Well, alright, not as high as the Astronomy Tower, but pretty close. Anyway, he came down too quickly for me to do a spell to cushion his fall so he came thumping down to the ground like a big sack of potatoes…I could really go for some potatoes right now. Ooh! Some fries with a big burger and a butterbeer…" he trailed off when he caught sight of everyone staring at him as if he had lost his mind. "What?"

"The story, Sirius." Lily reminded him, "You haven't finished the story yet."

"Oh yeah! Sorry." He had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed, but not much. "So James thumped to the ground and when we got closer to him we noticed that his arms and legs were covered in these little purple circles. He looked like he was in a bit of pain so we rushed over to help him and that's when I realised that those little circles were from the sucking things on the Squids tentacles."

"Yeah, they were painful too." James grimaced, "Bloody thing had them wrapped around me pretty tight."

McGonagall looked at James, "Why aren't you telling this story, James? You could tell us what actually went on down there."

He shuddered noticeably, "I'd rather not, thanks. It wasn't exactly fun and I'm surprised I got out alive. I don't like reliving it."

"At least you can say you got to wrestle with a Giant Squid," Sirius pointed out, "Not many people can say that. Although, it would have been cooler if you had won, but since that didn't happen I guess…" he noticed James giving him a glared again. "Oh, right! Story. Once Prongs opened his eyes and we knew he wasn't dead of course we tried to get the story out of him but, like now, he wouldn't say anything so naturally, because he seemed to be in a lot of pain and rather traumatized, we didn't push him—"

"Sirius!" Remus shouted, "You wouldn't stop bugging him about it for the next week! I had to put a silencing charm on you to get you to stop asking him about it."

Sirius's eyes darted around guiltily, "I don't remember that. Anyway, just as we were helping James get his clothes on Lily and Nikki and Mary come running out of the castle, asking what happened and why James had just been flying out of the lake and what was wrong and everything that nosy girls ask." Lily and Nikki glared at him but he ignored them, "Prongs wouldn't say anything to them, like he wouldn't tell us anything but he did look at Lily and say, 'I tried'."

"That's what you were talking about!" Lily gaped, recognition in her face, "I had no idea what that meant! It annoyed me for ages!"

"Ugh, I remember that." Nikki groaned, "You wouldn't shut up about it. 'What do you think he meant by 'I tried?' He was certainly stupid to go in that Lake. Was he talking about something I said or something he did?'"

Lily rolled her eyes, "I do not sound like that."

Nikki shrugged with a grin, "That doesn't matter. The point is that while it was a silly thing to do, James, you did get Lily's attention. And you managed to keep it for the next week or so. Maybe not with your attempts at the Giant Squid, but with what you said. Oh wait!" She laughed loudly, "I remember something else that made an impression on your fair maiden. I don't think you meant it to but it did."

Suddenly Lily gasped, "Nik, please don't! We don't need to tell them that! What difference does it make now! I'm married to him, he doesn't need to know!"

"Ooh, what is it?" Sirius said, "I'm intrigued now."

"Me too," Remus admitted.

James just stared at Nikki. "What did she say? Please tell me, Nik, please."

"Sorry, Lil." Nikki apologized, but her huge smile didn't make it seem so sincere, "I've kept it in long enough."

"Nikki!" Lily cried, "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

Her friend shrugged, "It's true, you threatened me with death if I told. But you didn't think of this loophole, my super-smart amigo. We're already dead. My promise doesn't apply anymore because you can't do anything more to me." Lily was shaking her head slowly, but it seemed to be in defeat so Nikki continued, "She said, as we were walking back up to our dorms after helping James to the Hospital Wing, that James had, and I quote, 'The most amazing body I have ever seen.'" Lily blushed a deep red as everyone looked at her with shocked expressions and Nikki's grin grew, "Wait! I'm not finished!"

Sirius shook his head, "This can't get any better. This is Lily we're talking about. She couldn't have said anything more."

"Oh, but she did." Nikki said with her shit-eating grin, "She also said, 'I would have agreed to go out with him ages ago if I knew he had a body like that and wasn't such an arrogant toe-rag.'"

"_What?_" James almost shouted, "You would have gone out with me in fifth year after you saw me without a shirt on? God, that would have saved me so much effort."

"Hang on," Lily said, her face still beet red, trying to regain some dignity, "I also said if you weren't such an arrogant toe-rag."

James shrugged, "I would have changed immediately had I known that. I could have saved myself another 2 years of begging you to go out with me."

Sirius was laughing, "Clearly, you had the wrong tactic, Prongs. You should have just taken off your shirt every time you went to talk to her."

Everyone laughed while Lily grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."

"C'mon, Lils." Nikki giggled, "Don't take it so seriously. This was over 60 years ago! Like you said before, you married him anyway. What difference does it make?"

"I guess," Lily sighed, "But don't think that makes you of the hook, missy." She glared at Nikki, "I'm still super mad you told everyone."

Nikki shrugged, "You'll get me back someday. It was worth it."

Lily nodded, agreeing to move on and past it, but James was still wallowing in self-pity. "Lily! You were unnecessarily mean to me for two years! Why were you so mean when you thought I was hot?"

She sighed in aggravation, "I don't know! You were still arrogant and annoying, I guess. Yes, we've established that I wasn't very nice but we've also made it clear that you were rather stupid with your attempts to woo me so theoretically, we're even."

"Fine." He grumbled, "But I won't forget this!"

Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "Apparently nobody will."

"Nope!" Sirius grinned cheekily, "But that's okay because McGonagall is going to tell us more stories about Harry so it won't be the first thing we think of for a while."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows, "Oh really, Black? I'm just going to keep telling you stories for the rest of the night, am I?"

"Yep, I just decided it for you. No need to thank me, Minnie."

She rolled her eyes, "Trust me, I wasn't going to." She scanned the room for a moment, taking in Sirius's eternally eager face and sighed, "Alright. What story do you want to hear next?"

* * *

**A/N: We've started! each chapter is for one year so next chappy will be from the Chamber of Secrets :) i would love to hear you guesses for what tale Minnie would tell!**


	3. That Damn Tree

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HP and i know it. so should you.**

**A/N: I got a great range of reviews for the last chapter. I suppose some of you were suprised or disappointed i didn't do the main event of the book but that is almost the point of this story - McGonagall is telling her point of view for events that aren't often the main parts. A lot of the time it will be about bits you have forgotten. Thats part of the fun :) This chapter is more obvious though and a lot of you guessed correctly.**

_

* * *

__McGonagall raised her eyebrows, "Oh really, Black? I'm just going to keep telling you stories for the rest of the night, am I?"_

"_Yep, I just decided it for you. No need to thank me, Minnie."_

_She rolled her eyes, "Trust me, I wasn't going to." She scanned the room for a moment, taking in Sirius's eternally eager face and sighed, "Alright. What story do you want to hear next?"_

She scanned the room, taking in their faces. None of them seemed to have any ideas as to what story they wanted to hear. She sighed again, "Well, it was Harry's second year so how did that begin…ah yes." She smiled slightly, knowing that she had a very interesting story to tell.

Sirius perked up immediately, noticing McGonagall's secret smile and deducing what it meant. "Tell us, tell us, tell us!" he bounced up and down on the couch. Nikki laughed at him and placed her hand on his shoulder to still his movements because he was beginning to make the entire couch vibrate.

"If you stop acting like a three year old who has eaten too many Sugar Quills I will tell the story, Black. But until then, you will hear no more stories from me." McGonagall said sternly.

Sirius's face went white and his body stilled. He stared at her in shock, his mouth hanging open. "But…but…" he blinked and managed to snap himself out of his stupor to burst out, "But you have to tell us more stories, Minnie! We've missed you so much and you have so much knowledge on all that is Harry and would you be so cruel as to deny me, Harry Potter's godfather, the desperate need to know more about his godson? I was the most important person he had in his life and I was so suddenly taken away by the people he hated most in the world! Don't I deserve something to numb my pain and make me feel more connected to my dear godson—?"

"Hey, Padfoot," James cut in, "What about us?" He indicated to himself and Lily who was glaring strongly at Sirius.

Looking at them blankly, Sirius said, "What about you?"

"We're his _parents!_" Lily screeched, "We deserve to know more about our _son_ then you do about your godson!"

"How dare you say that!" Sirius gasped in affront, "How dare you insinuate that you are more important to Harry! I am his _godfather! _I was in his life for two years. You were only there for one."

Lily's glare turned murderous and James flinched, taking in her expression. "Sirius," he warned quietly, "Shut up."

"You shut up, Prongs." Sirius retorted before turning back to Lily, "What did you do for Harry that made you so important?"

"_I gave birth to him!"_ she almost yelled and this time Sirius flinched.

"Well, yeah, there's that."

Lily opened her mouth to continue her verbal tirade on him but McGonagall quickly cut over the top of her, "Lily, let it go." She advised in her very neutral tone she only reserved for the frequent fights that broke out throughout Hogwarts, "Sirius is just upset that I threatened to stop telling stories and he is lashing out at you." She turned to Sirius, who shrunk into his seat under her gaze, "Black, shut up."

"Yes Minnie."

James gaped at him, "How come when I tell you to shut up you don't listen, but when Minnie does you immediately obey her."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Because Minnie is Minnie. She's scary," he whispered loudly so that everyone, including McGonagall could hear, "And you're…well, you. Most of the time you tell me to shut up is when you want to speak over me in your pompous, 'I was Head Boy, obey me' tone."

"I don't have a Head Boy tone!" James cried, offended before glancing around the room at everyone else, "Do I?" His expression slowly fell in dismay as he took in the nodding heads of Remus, Tonks and Nikki. "Lily?" he looked at her with sad eyes, "Do I really have a pompous Head Boy tone?"

She shifted and looked away from him before forcing herself to look at his face. She took pity on his horrified expression, "Yes, you do."

"Ha!" Sirius exulted, pointing at his best friend. Remus gave him the look the Marauders had dubbed as the 'Sirius Look' during their first year because Sirius was the only one the look was reserved for. Sirius quickly recognised the look and lowered his arm. Remus tried not to smirk in satisfaction.

Lily hurried to continue, seeing how disheartened James was at the knowledge that he sometimes sounded like a pompous prat. "But James, I should probably tell you that your 'Head Boy' tone was probably one of the reasons I started falling for you in the first place. It showed that you were growing up and reducing the size of your head. It was most likely the first thing I started to really like about you."

Sirius snorted, "Figures. Nothing turns Lily on more then another showy know-it-all."

He laughed for a moment before his chuckles turned into a high-pitched scream. Lily had reached the end of her patience with Sirius and had leaped from her seat and started pummelling him with one of the couch cushions.

The room immediately sprung into action with an organisation that was an indication of the frequency of this situation. Remus and Tonks moved to stand over Sirius, while James ran behind Lily. Nikki stood in her position, waiting for her job to begin.

It took the combined strength of both Remus and Tonks to pull the cushioned weapon from Lily's hands due to her strength and the speed at which she was using it to beat Sirius into a pulp.

James, recognizing his queue, grabbed his wife around the waist, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, managed to drag Lily off Sirius. She struggled against him and puffed but he kept his arms locked around her, assuring the safety of his friend for a little while longer.

As soon as there was space between Sirius and Lily, Nikki jumped into the no-man's land, blocking Lily's access to Sirius. Slowly, she walked toward Lily who was still looking murderous but no longer struggling against her husband. "Now, Lily, you know the drill. Take some deep breaths, and try to make your mind go blank. Let all of that anger that you are holding within you out. Breathe."

Lily obeyed, concentrating on her breathing and trying to ignore Sirius's dramatic cries from the opposite couch.

"She tried to kill me! Did you see that, Minnie? Do you see what I have to deal with everyday?" Sirius was yelling as if McGonagall was standing not right next to him but a hundred miles away, "She tried to kill me! Murder! Murder by upholstery!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Sirius, _shut up!_" Nikki spun around to scream right in his face. He shut his mouth quickly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Miss Williamson." McGonagall gave her a tight smile before turning to pin both Lily and Sirius with her glare, "I will not tell my story of Harry's second year if you two can't behave yourselves. Understood?"

They both nodded meekly and when everyone was sure that Lily would no longer break into another rage, they took their seats once again.

McGonagall leaned forward to survey the group with her calculating stare, "Now before I continue may I ask how often these little quarrels occur?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer but McGonagall ignored him, pointedly looking at Remus for a reliable answer. "Well, I would like to say that it is a rare occurrence," he glanced uneasily at Sirius, who was pouting, "But it really happens quite often." Lily cleared her throat and gave him a look that was clearly trying to convey a very strongly worded message without words. Remus nodded at her, understanding her meaning. "Let me rephrase that. This is a regular occurrence when Sirius is around. Other then that, we all get along relatively peacefully."

"Hey!" Sirius said indignantly, "It doesn't always involve me!"

"Sirius," Tonks sighed, "Don't be daft. Before today there was the time Nikki hit you until you apologized for calling her fat—"

"I was just kidding!" He defended himself.

"—and before that Remus tried to pound your face in because you ripped his favourite book in half," Remus winced at the still raw pain of losing his beloved book.

"That was an accident!"

"And then there was the time Tonks kicked you in the face because you crept up on her in a Death Eater outfit." James added with a huge grin on his face as he relieved the memory.

Tonks blushed, "That was my fault. My Auror instincts are still strong. But really, who is stupid enough to sneak up on someone who spent most of their life fighting Death Eaters, dressed as a Death Eater?"

"Sirius is." Lily laughed.

"It was Halloween," Sirius grumbled, knowing his defence wouldn't be heard.

"Well," McGonagall huffed, "Having heard all that I can safely say that Sirius is the cause of the fights that happen within this group. Now I know to keep a close watch on him. May I start my story now? I can hardly believe I haven't even started it. It feels like I have been sitting here forever."

"Do continue, Minnie. We've all had our fun now." James smiled, ignoring the fierce glares Lily and Sirius sent his way.

"Alright," McGonagall surveyed the room carefully one more time and once she had decided that there would be no more fist-fights breaking out, she started her story. "Harry and Ron didn't start their second year the traditional way. When the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, Hagrid informed me that Harry and Ron weren't on it. During dinner, I noticed that they were still absent and Hermione was looking rather worried. We were getting towards the end of the feast when Severus reported to me that he had found Harry and Ron outside the Great Hall, watching the Sorting through the windows and he thought I should go to his office so I could deal with them."

Sirius was looking outraged, "But it's _Snape_! He's always hated me and therefore I know for a fact that he hated Harry! I bet he was just waiting for you to expel them."

"To be honest, I think he was indeed hoping for that outcome." McGonagall admitted, "I could tell he was furious with them just from his expression, but he had reason to be." She hurried to talk over Sirius who had opened his mouth with a smug smile on his face, "They had been unable to get through the barrier at Platform Nine and Three Quarters so they just assumed that the car that Mr Weasley had bewitched would be a perfectly good way to transport them to Hogwarts!"

"And why wouldn't it be?" Nikki demanded, "It's a pretty cool way to make an entrance at school, don't you think?"

"A good way to make an entrance, yes, but also a great way to get in a lot of strife!" McGonagall said sternly, "They somehow managed to find their way to school but they crashed right into the Whomping Willow, causing that poor tree a lot of damage."

"_The_ _poor tree_?" James repeated incredulously, "The _poor_ tree? That tree was vicious!"

"Prongs, I agree that it wasn't a particularly nice tree," Remus admitted, "but you have to remember why it was, and still is so violent. That tree was placed there for me. It was so vicious to protect me. I too never was very fond of the personality of that particular species of magical shrub but I have to remind myself that without it, I wouldn't have been admitted to Hogwarts in the first place."

James nodded, "I'll give you that, Moony, you have a good point. But you still can't deny that tree has something against people in general. I have a long list of students it bashed up over the years. Like Peter!" He suddenly sat up straighter, his eyes lighting up, "Can I tell a story after you, Minnie? Please? It's a good one, I promise!"

She looked a little annoyed by his pleading but sighed in defeat, "Very well, as long as you let me finish my story first." When he obediently nodded she said, "What was I saying before I was interrupted? Ah yes, the flying car driven by Harry and Ron, though indeed a mode of transport, was seen by about seven Muggles, which in itself was a violation of several Ministry laws. They were just lucky that I was their Head of House and not Severus or they would have almost certainly gotten expelled. However, Albus agreed with me that all they deserved was a detention and a letter home to their families. Harry did ask me if Gryffindor was going to be deducted points," her mouth twitched, "I think he was more worried about that then his own individual punishment."

"A true Gryffindor," James beamed with pride, "Caring about his house over himself. Also a very well-known Potter trait."

"Really?" Lily smiled, "I would have been happy to argue against that for hours when we were at school. You never really struck me as the sort of person who put himself after…well, anything."

James frowned at her, "That's not fair. I always put my friends and house before myself, even from when I was younger. You just saw that everything else was not so important." He looked faintly embarrassed.

McGonagall rolled her eyes at James's words but continued without comment, "I was rather surprised that he cared about house points so early in the year but naturally I didn't want to put Gryffindor behind before the term had even started."

"Good on you, Minnie," Nikki said happily, "I would have been greatly disappointed in you if you had."

"Yes, well I did still have my loyalties to my house, after all." McGonagall smiled faintly, "Frankly, Albus and I both knew that writing to the Dursleys to inform them of what Harry and Ron did would not achieve much as we knew they wouldn't really understand the situation, nor would they care," she added the last part carefully, watching James and Lily's expressions warily. They both carried expressions that were a mixture of sadness and anger.

"I still can't believe my own sister would treat my little boy like that." Lily fumed, "She may have hated me for most of our lives but that doesn't mean she had to take it out on my son! He had nothing to do with that. Besides it's nobody's fault when they're a witch or a wizard."

"That's exactly right, Lil." Remus said, leaning forward, "It wasn't your fault that you were born a witch and Petunia wasn't and you can't let yourself take it as personally as she has. If you keep this grudge against her, it will do nothing for your life, like her grudge against you has not helped hers."

Lily gave a weak smile, "You've been telling me that since we were twelve years old."

He shrugged with a grin, "Then it should have gotten through your head by now." He shook his head teasingly, "And here I was, thinking you were smart."

She growled at him, but everyone could see her green eyes sparkling.

"As well as that, you've got to remember that she's obviously just really jealous," Tonks added, "I mean, you're a witch and she isn't. Suddenly, the younger sibling has more power then the older one and who wouldn't take that personally?"

"Thanks guys," Lily smiled gratefully, "I know you've told me that over and over for years but it's still nice to hear. I just can't help but get so angry at her when I hear about how she treated Harry. He couldn't help that he was born a wizard, or that Voldemort would come for us, and he certainly couldn't stop James and I dying and him surviving. I just don't see how my own sister couldn't get over her old prejudice and try to understand that."

She shook her head sadly and James put his arm around her comfortingly. He indicated that McGonagall should continue her story, in order to distract Lily and him from the pain of not being around for their son.

McGonagall, taking the hint, quickly continued, "Although we knew the Dursley's wouldn't reply I knew that Molly Weasley would have a lot to say on the subject. I also had an inkling of the form she would use to express her anger in her son and in Harry as well. I'm sure that Dumbledore was thinking the same thing when he sent the letter." When the group looked confused, she smiled slightly smugly, "The next day at breakfast, Ron received a Howler."

"Oh Merlin." Nikki gasped, "That's punishment enough!"

"Yeah, why even bother giving them detentions if you knew that Molly would send a Howler? Were you that cruel as to make them suffer more then just that public humiliation?" Sirius cried, remembering the several Howlers he had received from his mother in the years before he left to live with the Potters.

McGonagall shrugged, "They deserved a lot worse then just one detention, as I mentioned before and Albus and I both agreed that a Howler paired with a detention should be enough to keep them from arriving at school like that again."

Several people opened their mouths but she raised her hand, "Yes, the Howler was loud and the whole school heard it when Ron opened it. Molly basically demanded very shrilly that both Ron and Harry were to behave properly for the rest of the school year and that she was very unhappy with them."

Everyone who had opened their mouths shut them again, looking slightly put out that they hadn't been able to ask their question.

James raised his hand timidly and McGonagall rolled her eyes, "Potter, we're not in Transfiguration, you don't have to raise your hand. What?"

"Can I tell my story now?" He asked, looking like a kid in a candy shop.

McGonagall made him suffer for a moment, pretending to ponder another part of the story but after a minute or two she gave in to his agonized face, "Yes, James you may start your story."

James ran his hand through his hair, then straightened his glasses and said, "Well, it was I think our second year, because the Whomping Willow as only quite small. At the time it was probably about as tall as I am now, obviously taller then I was when I was twelve. But that meant that it had grown quite a lot since it was first planted. Do you guys remember how small it was?" He looked around at his friends who were nodding.

"I had to crawl through into the entrance to the Shack on my stomach." Remus recalled with a rueful smile, "It got easier as we got older though, because it grew faster then we did."

"Yep, it did indeed grow a lot faster then we did. On this one particular day, we were all coming back from Quidditch practice at about lunchtime. Remember? Sirius and I were really buggered because it was one of our first trainings since we'd only just gotten onto the team, Nikki wasn't on the team yet but she had come to training to watch and had dragged Lily along and Moony was there to support his buddies, right Rem?"

"Actually, I was there because I enjoy reading my books outside in the morning." Remus admitted, causing Sirius and James to glare at him, offended he wasn't there to support them.

"Those two years when I wasn't on the team were torture!" Nikki groaned, "It was so unfair there was only one Beater position open until our fourth year! Every time I watched a game or even training I wanted nothing more then to be out there smashing Bludgers at the stupid Slytherins. It was even more frustrating because I was so close to beating you in trials!" she pointed her finger angrily at Sirius.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Sirius said, "It's not my fault you were staring at that prat Peterson and didn't see the Bludger that knocked you off your broom."

"Well I wouldn't have needed to be watching for Bludgers if you hadn't hit it straight at me!" she snapped back.

"Let me finish my story!" James cut over Sirius's retort, glaring at the both of them, "As we were heading back to lunch, we were talking about Peter, remember? And we were wondering where he was because he normally came and watched us train."

Remus's eyes lit up in recognition, "I remember now! He normally sat with me and he irritated me enormously every time because he always made those little excited gasps every time you caught the Quaffle, James, or he squeaked whenever Sirius smashed a Bludger away." He shook his head, "I could never read my book in peace. That day was particularly relaxing because he wasn't there."

Lily nodded, "I totally understand! Usually he sat behind me as we watched and he would continuously touch my hair until I turned around and asked him to stop. He never really seemed to get the point because at the next game or training he would do the same thing—"

"How come I didn't know about this?" James roared.

Lily rolled her eyes, patting his hand, "Because I knew you would react like this and try to pummel Peter into the dirt."

"That reminds me of the story I was trying to tell," James grinned, easily distracted. "So we were wondering where Peter was as we were walking up from the pitch when we heard a particularly familiar scream."

Nikki nodded, now grinning, "Always screamed like a little girl, Peter did."

"I still don't remember this!" Sirius cried, looking agitated, "Why don't I remember?"

"I think I know," Remus smirked.

"Shh, Moony, I'm telling the story," James said, "We immediately knew it was Peter so we ran in the direction of the scream, which led us straight to—"

"The Whomping Willow!" Lily said, "I remember!"

"I don't!" Sirius whined.

"Everyone shut up, I'm telling the story!" James snapped before turning to McGonagall with disbelief, "Is that what it is like for you when you're telling us your stories?"

She nodded, "But worse, because you're also involved, James, rather then trying to prevent it."

"I'm so sorry," he said, patting her knee, "I promise to try to be good for the rest of your stories." She nodded and smiled thinly, which he took to be appreciation. After a moment he continued, "Yes, we came to the Whomping Willow to find Peter hanging by his ears from the tree which was spinning him around because it seemed to be fun. It did look pretty funny but since we were good friends, we tried not to laugh. Naturally, Sirius wanted to have a go on the 'spinning ride'." James, Nikki, Remus and Lily all smiled at Sirius, whose eyes had gone very wide.

Tonks was laughing, having managed to piece together what Sirius was going to do, "Oh, you didn't!"

"He did." Remus chuckled, "Sirius ran towards the tree, all excited like a child on Christmas, thinking it would be as fun as a carnival ride. But before he'd even gotten to Peter, the branches grabbed his ankle and held him upside down."

"Then it started spinning him around with Peter, but the tree can't twist all the way around, remember, so it would spin a little one way, and then a little the other. Continuously," Lily smirked, enjoying the memory of Sirius's pain almost as much as she did at the time.

"And unfortunately for Sirius, he was taller then Peter and the branches that were holding him weren't at the top of the tree. So, because it still wasn't that tall, as he moved with the tree, Padfoot's head was being dragged along the ground. Making at deep trail in the dirt." James was now laughing fully and having trouble getting the words out. "He was laughing at first, then when it started hurting him, he kept yelling 'I don't like this! Get me off this thing! It's making my beautiful head misshapen!'"

Sirius groaned, his hands rubbing his head at the spot that was continuously dragged over the earth and rocks which everyone else laughed at his misfortune. "That's why I don't remember." He stated dryly.

"Pretty much," Remus said, still laughing, "Eventually I managed to poke the hole near the entrance to the tunnel to stop the Willow moving and it dropped the both of you."

"Dumping Siri on his head and knocking him out," Nikki sniggered, running her hands through Sirius's hair.

He groaned again, "Stupid tree."

"It was pretty damn funny," James said, "Peter was relatively unhurt, just a few scratches that were fixed at the Hospital Wing after we dragged Padfoot there."

"Did you ever find out how Peter got stuck in the tree in the first place?" Lily asked curiously.

Remus and James frowned for a moment before James said, "You know what, I don't think we did."

Tonks shook her head in amazement, "You guys have some truly strange stories."

"True," Sirius said, looking like his mood was back to normal as he lifted his head from his hands to look at Tonks, "I bet you want to hear more of them, right?"

She nodded with a grin but McGonagall grimaced, "I don't know if I want to. I saw enough of them in action to last me a lifetime, thank you very much."

"Aw, yes you do, Minnie." Sirius teased, "You tell us one of Harry's stories and we tell you one of ours. An eye for an eye."

"Um, Padfoot?" Remus said, trying to suppress a smile as Lily, Nikki, Tonks and James snickered behind their hands at Sirius's words, "That's not really the right expression for this context—"

"Don't care," Sirius said, waving his hand at his friend impatiently, "So Minnie, what do you say? You will tell us another story, yes?"

She sighed, "Do I have a choice?"

"Course not!" Sirius grinned cheerfully, "And you also have a time limit because Sirius Black needs his beauty sleep," he looked reproachfully at Tonks who snorted quietly, "What?" he demanded, gesturing to his face, "You think looking like this happens without sleep? Think again!" Without waiting for her response he turned back to McGonagall. "So? Time's ticking away, Minnie! Go!"

* * *

**A/N: There you have it: 2nd year. Hopefully you enjoyed it! as usual i would LOVE feedback and tell me what you reckon will be the story for the next chapter! special prize for the person who guesses correctly (that's how confident i am that you won't guess it) ;)**


	4. Improving a Knight

**I shouldn't really ask for the ideas you guys have for the next chapters because they're all so good! they make me feel like I should have done those parts of the book rather then the things I have originally written! Honestly, you all come up with such great suggestions, about things that I hadn't thought of. Good on you and keep them coming :) ****No one guessed exactly what the part of the third book was used for this chapter but _griffindorgirl _got the closest with her guess of the fat lady. But sorry, no prize for you. You'll see why and hopefully you don't think i'm too mean. **

**DISCLAIMER: You know the drill: i own this storyline but not HP**

* * *

"_So Minnie, what do you say? You will tell us another story, yes?"_

_She sighed, "Do I have a choice?"_

"_Course not!" Sirius grinned cheerfully, "And you also have a time limit because Sirius Black needs his beauty sleep," he looked reproachfully at Tonks who snorted quietly, "What?" he demanded, gesturing to his face, "You think looking like this happens without sleep? Think again!" Without waiting for her response he turned back to McGonagall. "So? Time's ticking away, Minnie! Go!"_

McGonagall shifted in her seat, then said, "How many stories have I told now?"

"Two," James answered, "We should be up to Harry's third year."

"Is that all?" McGonagall gasped, "Merlin, it feels like more then that. This night is going on forever."

"Ah, but life always felt like that, didn't it Minnie?" Sirius said wistfully, "At the time it feels like it will never end, but then, poof! It's all over."

There was a moment of silence before Tonks said, "Where in the world did that come from, Sirius?"

He frowned for a moment, "I don't know. I just suddenly felt like being philo…philosoftical? Philospotical? I felt like saying something smart, okay?"

"And you did sound smart," Remus said, chuckling with the rest of the group, "but you ruined it with what you tried to say just then. And I think the word you're looking for was _philosophical, _Padfoot."

"Whatever," Sirius huffed, "Wasn't Minnie going to tell a story? Ooh, Harry's third year! That was a dramatic one for me! I finally got to see my godson after 12 years, I spent most of the year as Pa…hiding out." He glanced at McGonagall warily, who narrowed her eyes, having noticed the mishap. He gulped and hurriedly continued, "And on the side I also almost killed Peter, Ron, and the Fat Lady—"

"Aha!" McGonagall interrupted him, surprising the rest of the group with her enthusiasm, "Now that is a good story that I can tell you."

Nikki frowned, "Wait, I'm confused. What are you going to tell the story about?"

"The Fat Lady and Sir Cadogan, of course." McGonagall answered, "Please pay attention Miss Williamson." When she was sure Nikki had stopped talking, she said, "It was about halfway—"

"Haha," Sirius was mocking Nikki, bumping his shoulder into hers and completely unaware that McGonagall had started her story. "You got in trouble, you got in trouble."

"Be quiet, Black!" McGonagall snapped and Sirius quickly snapped his mouth shut.

McGonagall sighed and then said, "It was about half way through Harry's third year, and as it has already been mentioned, Sirius had spent most of the year hiding from the Ministry and the Dementors who were out looking for him continuously. Little did any of us know that he was just around the Hogwarts Castle. Now, I must remind you all that at this point in time, everyone, Harry included, believe that Sirius was indeed a mass murderer and was looking for Harry to finish him off. One night—" She glared at Sirius who had tentatively raised his hand like he was back in school. "_What_?"

"Um, would this happen to be the story of how I broke into the castle and got into the Gryffindor—"

"Yes it is," McGonagall said firmly, "But if you keep interrupting I may give up on telling it entirely."

Sirius immediately looked aghast, "No! You can't do that, Minnie! This is an excellent story! Keep going!"

"Well, be quiet then!"

"Yes ma'am." Sirius gave her a mock salute, to which she rolled her eyes before turning away from him in an effort to ignore him.

"As I was saying," She said to the other four in the room, "One night, Halloween night, to be exact, the students were all coming back from the annual Halloween feast which I'm sure you all remember well. When they got—oh, for Merlin's sake Black, what _now_?"

"I just wanted to let you know," Sirius said, now completely ignoring McGonagall's impatience, "That my side of the story really is a lot more interesting! I can tell you all about how I got into the castle in the first place and what the Fat Lady said to me and…" he trailed off upon noticing the look that McGonagall was giving him. The phrase _if looks could kill _ran through his mind and he timidly said, "But we can all hear about that later. Please continue, oh wonderful Professor McGonagall."

James grinned and reached over to high-five Sirius, "Using her proper teacher name to suck up, nice work Padfoot." Sirius glanced at McGonagall warily before giving a fleeting grin and slapping his friend's hand before retracting his swiftly and sitting on it, as if he believed McGonagall wanted to cut it off.

"No more interrupting me or I will give you all det—well, I will leave and you won't hear anymore stories." She amended quickly after realising that they weren't in school anymore and she was therefore unable to give them detentions as punishments.

She cleared her throat and continued. "After the Halloween feast, I was called from my office by a few terrified-looking second years who demanded I come quickly to the Gryffindor Common Room. Naturally, I was unnerved by their panicked expressions and voices so I hurried to the Gryffindor Tower, to find the entirety of the Gryffindor House standing outside and Professor Dumbledore inspecting the portrait of the Fat Lady. The first thing I noticed was that the portrait was all torn up, parts of the canvas lying on the floor. It was only as I got closer that I realised that the Fat Lady was missing. We wondered what had happened for a moment before Peeves informed us that she was scared away when she wouldn't let Sirius into the common room. And apparently you've got a nasty temper, according to Peeves." She finally turned to face Sirius again who made a face.

"Bloody git," he muttered, "Always up to no good, that Peeves."

"Sounds an awful lot like you, Sirius," Lily laughed.

Tonks snorted, "I'm glad you gave her a bit of a wake-up call, Sirius. She was a right bitch, sorry Minnie," she added, glancing at McGonagall who rolled her eyes, "to me when I was at school. Sometimes she wouldn't even let me in when I had the password!"

"She could be pain sometimes," Remus admitted, "But I was teaching this particular year, and I have to say that at this point in the year I didn't know it was Sirius that was innocent and not Peter, so I was quite angry that you had even tried to get into the castle, Padfoot. You left quite a bit of mayhem in your wake."

He sighed, "I didn't mean to! You should have had more faith in me, Moony. I can't believe you actually thought I would kill my best friend. Why would you ever think—"

"It doesn't matter what your opinion is," McGonagall said loudly, "The fact was that Sirius gave us all a great scare. Dumbledore made the students all sleep in the Great Hall that night because we were all on the lookout for you, Black. I spent the whole night scouring the castle and setting up more defences. Albus spoke to the Minister for Magic who suggested letting the Dementors into the castle to look for you. I've got to say, I've never seen Albus look more shocked in me entire life working with him. He was positively horrified that someone would even suggest letting Dementors into a school with hundreds of young students. That's what really made Albus's work as Headmaster so legendary—his love for the school and every single student in it."

"I wasn't even in the castle," Sirius sighed after a moment's contemplation, "I bolted after not being able to get into the common room. In my defence, I was very tired and agitated and I thought I was finally going to get that goddamn rat so when the Fat Lady wouldn't let me in I went a bit over the top. I shouldn't have been that mean, I admit."

"Well, you terrified her," McGonagall said sternly, "She refused to return to her post as the Gryffindor Portrait. Not even Dumbledore could persuade her, and she adored him."

"So who guarded the entrance to the common room, then?" James had to ask, "Surely you didn't just leave it open, what with a crazy murderer on the loose and everything." He grinned at Sirius who stuck his tongue out in reply.

"The only portrait brave enough to take her spot was Sir Cadogan." McGonagall replied.

"Ugh, I hated that portrait," Nikki groaned, "He was a right sleaze. He always wolf-whistled whenever I walked past and he continuously yelled out, 'Oh fair maiden, join me in my wonderful world!'"

Sirius was fuming, "He said _what?_"

James however, was looking at Sirius curiously, "Padfoot, isn't Sir Cadogan the one that you…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence because Sirius nodded, "Yep, and he really should not have been hitting on my lady seeing as I—" he glanced around the room, as if suddenly remembering they were all sitting there listening to him and he stopped talking abruptly.

"Seeing as you, what?" Nikki asked, leaning around him to study his face.

"That can be my story as soon as Minnie has finished hers." Sirius said uncomfortably, turning his face away from Nikki's view.

She rolled her eyes before grabbing his shoulder and swinging him towards her so he was forced to face her. "Or you will tell us all now." She demanded, then added in a sweet voice, "Minerva won't mind. Right Minnie?"

"Not at all," McGonagall said steely, staring at Sirius.

He gulped, "Well…do you remember when he was a rather boring painting? Just trotted around on his fat little horse all day?"

McGonagall's eyes narrowed dangerously and she nodded. "Um, well one day at the end of our third year, Moony, Prongs, Pettigrew and I were all wandering around the castle with nothing much to do when we came across Sir Cadogan's portrait. I asked him what he thought we should do, to fill in some time and he just shrugged and said to do anything that we felt like."

"Sir Cadogan said that?" Tonks looked shocked, "If you asked him now he would tell you to have a sword fight with him or jump off a cliff!"

"Yeah, well." Sirius shifted in his seat but James and Remus were wearing identical shit-eating grins, relishing Sirius's discomfort. Sirius chose that moment to look up and see their smiles to which his face hardened and he sat up straighter. "Naturally I wasn't very happy with that answer, but like the good little boy I was I ignored him and went to move on. Prongs and Moony, however, were horrified that a portrait would suggest this and decided they would do something about it."

"Hang on…" James said, both him and Remus now frowning, before Sirius pushed on in a rush of words.

"Moony suggested that James charm the portrait into being more exciting, and Prongs, the smarty that he is, decided that was a splendid idea."

"Padfoot—" Remus tried to cut in but Sirius talked over the top of him.

"So Prongs picks a charm that he thinks would be appropriate and casts it over the portrait, but I think he set it a little _too_ high because the next moment Sir Cadogan is leaping around his painting, demanding fights with anyone who passed."

"That's not—" James managed to get it, but yet again Sirius interrupted.

"And that's the story of how Sir Cadogan became annoying!" he smiled gleefully.

"SIRIUS!" Remus and James yelled at the same time.

"What?"

James was shaking his head, evidently too frustrated for words while Remus said, "Padfoot, if you're going to tell the story, you can't change it to make you look better. Tell the truth."

"But the truth is boring!" Sirius whined, "No one here wants the truth, they want a story!"

"No we don't!" Lily, Tonks, Nikki and McGonagall all said at the same time.

"Gee, way to back me up guys." Sirius grumbled.

James stared him down, "Sirius, tell the story properly or Moony and I will go back and tell it to our advantage."

"Alright!" Sirius sighed as if the conversation had aged him twenty years. He looked at the ground and mumbled, "What really happened was that _I_ was horrified that Sir Cadogan would be so boring. I did try to convince Prongs and Moony to do it but they were both too chicken so _I _charmed the portrait into being more interesting."

"But I think he set it a little _too_ high because the next moment Sir Cadogan is leaping around his painting, demanding fights with anyone who passed." Remus grinned, repeating Sirius's earlier words.

"So it was _you _who made Sir Cadogan the hyper-active, irritating portrait he is today." McGonagall said flatly and Sirius nodded before hanging his head. "I should have known." She sighed and his head snapped up again.

"You're not mad?" he asked, surprise colouring his tone.

She frowned, "Well, I'm a little annoyed that I didn't know all that sooner so I could punish you properly for setting such an obnoxious painting on the entire school but what can I do about it now?"

A slow smile spread across Sirius's face. "Absolutely nothing."

"That's right," McGonagall grimaced. "My power to punish has been taken from me with death."

"Eh, cheer up Minnie." James chuckled, "You still have your story-telling powers."

"Ooh yes!" Sirius said, all his energy returning in one swift hit, "You never finished your story! Please continue!"

McGonagall shrugged, "If you insist. So Sir Cadogan was the only volunteer for the position. Even on the job he continued to be the irritating, obnoxious portrait we now know Sirius made him to be. He was extremely annoying for the students as well as for myself and the other teachers who wanted access to the Gryffindor common room because he changed the password for no good reason and kept challenging people to a duel instead of granting them access in side. I made it a habit not entering the common room so I could avoid the rudeness of that particular painted knight."

James laughed, "Minnie afraid of a portrait? Never thought I'd see the day."

Glaring at him, McGonagall said, "I was not afraid of it, Potter, it just irritated me to no end so I made a habit of avoiding it. I wonder why I didn't realise how he came to be before. The similarities between him and Sirius are uncanny." Everyone laughed and she smiled briefly while Sirius pouted before continuing. "Because he kept changing the password so often, Sir Cadogan confused the students greatly. Neville Longbottom, I'm sure you've heard of him before." When they all nodded she smiled, "He was an incredibly brave and noble boy, very loyal to Harry and his friends, but he had particular trouble keeping up with all Sir Cadogan's ridiculous passwords, so he wrote them all down. One day, that piece of paper mysteriously went missing." She turned her sharp eyes to Sirius again, who sunk a little lower into his seat.

"I wanted to get Pettigrew," he muttered in a quietly defensive voice which she easily ignored.

"When Longbottom lost his passwords, I didn't think much of it because it was just a piece of paper and Neville was losing things all the time and them finding them a few days later. Trevor, his toad, was a perfect example of this. So naturally, I didn't spring into action at once. In hindsight, I really should have. Because a few nights later, the night after Gryffindor had a fantastic victory on the Quidditch pitch over Ravenclaw, I might had—"

"Excellent!" James cried, looking delighted, "Harry caught the snitch, did he? Of course he did. He is my son after all."

"He only caught it because he was on the Firebolt I got for him!" Sirius said loudly and proudly.

McGonagall turned to him, "You got that for him? Well, that was very nice of you, Sirius. Although, I have to say that since it was sent anonymously, I had to keep it under my watch and check that it wasn't cursed for a few days. Harry wasn't very happy about it but—"

"You took away his BROOM?" James and Nikki yelled at once, both looking outraged.

McGonagall stared at them indignantly, "Of course I did! There was no clue as to who had sent it to him and need I remind you that we all thought Sirius was truly a murderer at the time. We thought he was out to kill Harry! Would you rather I made sure your son was safe or let him keep the broom just so he could win a Quidditch match and possibly be killed, James?"

Frowning, James said, "Hmm, that's a tough one…"

"JAMES!" Lily yelled, looking horrified and hit in hard over the top of the head.

"OW!" James cried, clutching his head in pain and trying to ignore Nikki and Sirius who he could hear laughing their heads off. "I was just kidding, Lily! Of course I would rather Harry be safe, jeez."

"Just making sure," she smirked.

"Yes, well now that we've got that all sorted may I continue my story?" McGonagall said, looking around the room for anyone who might object. When no one did, she smiled and said, "As I was saying before you all got distracted, the night that Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw, effectively putting them in the Grand Final—" she sent a stern look at James who had opened his mouth to interrupt and he wisely shut it again, "and as you would expect they had a party in the common room that I had to interrupt at about one in the morning, which I was not very happy about, mind you. I had only managed to get a little bit more sleep after telling them all to go to bed before I was woken up again by a terrible ruckus coming from the common room. I hurried in, expecting to find the party in full swing again, but instead I found many of the house crowded in the common room and all looking rather frightened. When I asked what was going on, Ron Weasley proceeded to tell me that he had woken up to see Sirius Black standing over him holding a knife." She directed the full power of her glare to Sirius, who, instead of sinking into the couch again, sat straight and faced her directly.

"I will now tell my side of the story, if you don't mind, Minnie." Before waiting for her answer, he started talking, "After the debacle with the Fat Lady, I realised I needed the password to get into the common room. So I waited a few days and eventually Hermione's cat, who I had made friends with over the course of time I had been hiding out, managed to bring me a piece of paper which had a list of funny words on it. After a moment I realised that it was a list of passwords, hopefully for the Gryffindor common room. So late one night, or very early if you look at it that way, I snuck up to the Gryffindor Tower and ran though the list of passwords for Sir Cadogan before I got to the right one, and the idiot let me in without question. I don't think he realised who I was, I did look rather different. I was a little annoyed already because he actually had taken the job as portrait for the common room about 15 years late." Sirius shook his head with a grumble. He looked up to see everyone staring at him in confusion. "What?"

"That's what I don't understand, Sirius." Tonks said, "Why the hell would you want _Sir Cadogan _of all portraits to be the keeper of the common room?" Tonks demanded, "Wasn't the Fat Lady still there?"

"That's why I wanted him there!" Sirius said, "The Fat Lady was always _so _annoying. She never let me in, even when I had the password and then would just stare at me until I got freaked out and demanded to be let in. Sometimes, she would even try to make conversation. Once, she showed me her singing," he shuddered, "I'm positive my ears almost fell off."

Lily giggled suddenly, "The Fat Lady had a crush on Sirius!"

Everyone burst out laughing and Sirius's face was horrified, "Of course! That's why she was so consistent and irritating! She was under the Sirius Spell." He suddenly looked incredibly frustrated, "I never cast it over her! How the hell did that happen?"

"The Sirius Spell?" Tonks laughed.

"Yeah, the Sirius Spell. Duh." he looked at her like she didn't know anything, "Every girl has been under the Sirius Spell at least once. It's not really their fault. Sometimes I cast it purposely with my charisma, charm and hair." He flicked his head like he was in a shampoo add, "But sometimes they just fall under it. I often cast it unconsciously." He shrugged. "It's also very contagious."

"Sounds like it should be called the Sirius disease," Nikki sniggered and Lily and Tonks laughed.

"Hey!" Sirius said, "It is not a disease. I will have you know that it doesn't really affect ordinary life much. Sometimes you don't even realise you have it. The only time when you can tell if someone is under the Sirius Spell is when I am in the room. If they start showing signs of the following symptoms, they are under the Sirius Spell." He started ticking things off his fingers, "Staring, drooling, fainting, giggling at anything I say, attempting to get in my line of vision every time I turn around, starting a fight over me, declaring their love, grabbing at me, hugging me or just jumping me in general." He sat back looking very pleased with himself.

"Definitely the Sirius Disease," Remus chuckled, earning a high five from Nikki and a glare from Sirius.

Lily shook her head, "Regardless of whether it is a disease or spell, you say that everyone has fallen under it at least once, Sirius, but I never have."

"Don't be ridiculous!" He looked shocked, "Of course you have. There's got to be some time…got it!" He yelled so loudly that everyone jumped. "Remember that time in our seventh year when you hugged me in potions and proclaimed that I was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen?" Sirius laughed heartily, "I do recall that Jamesie wasn't too happy about that."

"Sirius, you drugged her potion!" Nikki cried, "I remember seeing you put something in it just before she had to test it!"

"I was wondering why I didn't remember that at all." Lily glared angrily as Sirius who, to her great annoyance was grinning, unperturbed.

"Ah yes," he smirked, "I seemed to have forgotten that bit."

Tonks rolled her eyes, "So Lily has never been under the 'spell', I clearly haven't been under it either, has—"

"Hold it!" Sirius said, putting his hand up as if to stop traffic, "How do you know you've never been under the Sirius Spell, Dora?"

She stared at him for a moment before saying, "Um, I'm related to you, Sirius."

He immediately scrunched his nose, "I forgot. Ew." When she looked offended he quickly added, "Not that you're ugly, or anything. You're actually very attractive. If I wasn't related to you I would totally try to put you under the Sirius Spell," he waggled his eyebrows, "Moony's a very lucky man."

Nikki cleared her throat loudly and his eyes flicked to her, "Not that I don't think you're gorgeous either, Nik. It's just that Dora has that look, it's different to you…"

"Sirius, shut up." Nikki advised.

"Shutting up now." He nodded, sinking into his seat.

When she was sure he wasn't going to continue putting his foot in his mouth, Nikki said, "So no female in this room has been under the Sirius Spell. Curious how you said that every girl has been under it, isn't it Siri?"

"Of course you've been under it, Nik!" Sirius said, evidently forgetting about shutting up, "You're still with me, aren't you? You're continuously under the Sirius Spell!"

"Oh really? When I have I ever fainted around you, drooled at you, giggled with you, stared at you endlessly, followed you anywhere, grabbed at you—"

"Okay, okay!" he cut in, "You've never been under my spell! I acknowledge here and now that even though you have never been under the Sirius Spell, yet are still willing to be with me. Therefore you are really a strange woman." When she hit him on the arm he grinned, putting his arm around her and pulling her closer. "But I wouldn't have you any other way."

Lily and Tonks sighed and Remus and James rolled their eyes at each other. Nikki shook her head affectionately and leaned into Sirius who looked immensely proud at himself for getting out of that mess.

"Hang on," he said after a moment, "Minnie hasn't said anything! Do you have a story you would like to tell? Perhaps a time you knew you were under the Sirius Spell?"

"Black, when would I have ever been under this make-believe spell of yours?" She snapped.

He scoffed, "Minnie, you can't deny that you have always been under my spell."

"Padfoot, when has Minnie ever put up with your crap without giving you a detention?" James asked.

It took Sirius a moment before he could answer, "Er…never?"

"That's right, Black. I have never let you get away with your immature little pranks." McGonagall said but there was a small smile on her lips, "I may have seen you a few times outside the classroom. You were up to no good with some Slytherins, but those were the only times I let you have your fun."

James, Remus and Sirius gasped, "You didn't tell us off?" James chocked out in shock.

"I knew you loved us, Minnie!" Sirius yelled, jumping from his seat to give her a hug.

She managed to pry him off after a moment, "I don't love you, Black. I just didn't like those malicious Slytherins."

"But you still—"

"Sirius!" She said sternly, "Clearly, you still get as easily distracted now as you did when you were in my classes. Weren't you in the middle of telling us a story?"

"Oh yeah! Thanks Minnie. Anyway, it wasn't hard finding the right dormitory, because Harry and his friends have the same dorm that we used to have, guys," James and Remus mirrored Sirius's grin, reminiscing about the mischief they got up to in that old room.

"Once I found Ron's bed, I tried pulling the hangings across gently, but they got in my way and got caught up with my knife. I never liked them, they were stupid anyway so eventually I used my knife to rip them. That's what woke Ron up, the poor bugger. Pettigrew was sleeping merrily near Ron's head like he wasn't some back-stabbing, murderous bastard and I leaned over to kill him at the same time as Ron woke up. He screamed so loud I swear I couldn't hear for the next two days," Sirius winced and rubbed his ears dramatically, "I knew he had to have woken up the entire house, let alone his room and as much as I wanted to see Harry I had to run. I booked it out of the castle as fast as I could. As a matter of fact, as I was running I saw you, Minnie," he grinned at McGonagall and she looked very surprised, "I would have stopped to say hi but I was in a bit of a hurry, I'm sure you understand. Well, that and you thought I was an insane murderer. If you had looked in the opposite direction for a moment you would have seen me."

McGonagall's expression turned completive, "I wonder what I would have done if I had seen you," she mused, "I would have stunned you and turned you over to Dumbledore, probably. But there was always a part of me, throughout all those years in which I was lead to believe you had given Lily and James to Voldemort that didn't really agree with that. I remember thinking about it just a few days after Lily and James were killed," she glanced at them with pitying eyes, a soft expression rarely seen on her face, "And I wondered how you could have possibly betrayed them, Sirius. I had seen you all through school. I had seen how much you cared about your friends. Underneath those continuous jokes and pranks on unsuspecting Slytherins," the group was shocked to see the corners of her mouth turn up, something she had managed to hide for the seven years she had been witness to their pranks, "I could see your loyalty and love for them, and that's why I originally found it so hard to believe you would do that to your best friend."

"For me, it was all that Minerva has just said," Remus added, "But also the fact that you had told us about your family, Padfoot, and how they were all big Voldemort supporters and how even the mention of becoming a Death Eater made you sick. I couldn't believe that you would eventually become one. Your hatred towards your family and all they stood for was so strong during school, it just seemed impossible."

"Then why—" Sirius started to say but Remus held up a hand.

"I believed it when the reports that you had killed Peter and been taken to Azkaban came out. By that point, I was just so broken-hearted that all my friends were gone, in one way or another and I couldn't see any sense in it at all so I just stopped trying. The fact was that Lily and James were gone, and with Peter being 'dead'," he made quotations in the air, "you were the only person close enough to them who could have done it. I resigned myself to believe what everyone else was saying, rather then figure out the truth on my own. I'm sorry, Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged, "It's alright. It was a long time ago, and I have moved on. I mean, I've seen no point in holding grudges since I've died."

Remus sighed, "I tried not to think about it for a while but that year, Harry's third year, my first year of teaching, you escaping from Azkaban, it was all a bit much and sometimes I was just so confused. It was only until I got your letter, Padfoot and when I saw you again in the Shrieking Shack did I finally understand everything." He smiled suddenly, "There were some highlights of the year, though. Harry getting hold of the Marauder's Map for example."

"Harry got the Marauder's Map?" James and Sirius both said excitedly.

"He sure did," Remus nodded, "I think he got it from Fred and George and I do believe they managed to nick it from Filch's office somehow."

James was impressed, "How did they manage that? We tried millions of times but we could never find it!"

"I've got no idea how they did it. Point was they gave it to Harry and he made good use of it. Such as sneaking into Hogsmeade under the Invisibility Cloak on several occasions."

"Sounds like a Potter," James grinned smugly.

Remus laughed, "And just like a Potter he got himself caught with it. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't Snape who caught him."

"Snape?" Sirius and James both looked shocked.

"You know he was teaching there," They both nodded, "Well, somehow he got Harry into his office and found the Map. Harry had managed to make it blank but Snape still knew something was up so he demanded that it tell him its secrets." A smile was creeping onto Remus's lips and James and Sirius both grinned.

"If he demanded, then I bet he got what he deserved, didn't he?" Sirius smirked, looking pleased with himself. McGonagall was listening to the entire conversation with mild curiosity. She had not heard of these events during the year.

"Naturally, he called me in as soon as the words started coming up," Remus was now having trouble trying not to laugh, "I think he recognised the nicknames and knew it had something to do with us. It was really hard not to laugh right in his face," he added, a chuckle breaking free, "And I think if Harry wasn't so terrified he would have been rolling on the floor."

"Moony! Don't make us wait! What did it say? Something ingenious, I bet." James said, now bouncing in his seat. Lily grabbed hold of his arm to try and stop his excitement but only ended up getting vibrated along with him.

Remus was now laughing outright, "It said, _'Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abormally large nose out of other people's business.'_"

Everyone except McGonagall burst into laughter, James and Sirius noticeably the loudest. "Nice one, Moony," Sirius chocked out in between laughing fits, "What did mine say?"

"Prongs was next." Remus said. He ignored James's "Course I was," and said, "He said '_Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.'"_

Sirius shrugged but the grin was still in place, "True, but not as funny. I'm disappointed in you, Jamesie. For once, you have been beaten by Rem in the humour scale."

James gave Sirius a rude gesture then turned to Remus. "What did the oh-so-humorous Padfoot say then?"

"He said, _'Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor.'"_

"Sounds like me," Sirius said, clearly very happy, "The old thing's still working fine, then."

"You made this…map…while you were at school?" McGonagall said, finally speaking up.

"Sure did, Minnie." James grinned, "Took us a bloody long time, too. But it was totally worth it. For us and apparently for Harry as well."

She frowned at them, trying to decide whether to scold or praise them, "What did it show?"

"Hogwarts!" All three shouted.

"Just the inside," Remus said.

"But with all the secret passageways, of course." James added.

"And with a dot for everyone in the castle, where they are and what they are doing at that particular time." Sirius finished for them.

McGonagall was astonished, "Why did you make something like that? How did you get the idea?"

Sirius snorted, "We made it so we could manage all the secret passageways out of the castle of course! We knew all of them, even the ones that no one could find."

"And so we could tell where all the teachers were," James put in, "Because then we knew when and were to run to avoid getting in trouble."

"It was very useful, and we had to use it very often." Remus smirked and James and Sirius nodded with wistful smiles.

"We got the idea one day in the holidays before fifth year." Sirius said, "We were walking around one of those muggle places where they have lots of paintings and portraits on the walls but they're all very boring because they don't move. What are they called again?" He put his finger on his chin as if in deep contemplation.

"Art galleries?" Tonks supplied.

"That's it! Why thank you, dear cousin," Sirius smiled at her, "we went into an art gallery. And as I said before it was all very boring because none of the paintings talked or did funny things or even move at all! Jamesie and I found it really incredibly stupid and wanted to leave immediately, but Moony was fascinated about this one particular painting for some unknown reason. It was by someone with a weird, Italian name. Leonardo something. DiCaprio?"

"Da Vinci!" Remus cried, looking horrified Sirius didn't remember it. "It was an original portrait by Leonardo da Vinci!"

Lily's eyes widened, "Wow, Remus you never told me about that! Was it beautiful?"

"Stunning," he nodded, "the detail was just amazing. And you should have seen the tiny brush strokes," he shook his head in wonder, "immaculate."

"Wow," she repeated, "Why didn't you ever—"

"Doesn't matter!" Sirius interrupted, "No one cares about Leonardo DiCaprio—"

"Da Vinci!" Remus, Lily and McGonagall yelled together.

"Whatever," Sirius grumbled, "The point is that after Prongs and I managed to drag Rem away from that silly painting, we saw a map of the whole building and we thought, how cool would it be if we had a map of Hogwarts? But we made a few of our own adjustments of course," he shrugged casually.

"I have to say, I'm impressed," McGonagall admitted, looking like it pained her slightly to do so, "I'm just sorry I didn't get to see it."

Lily put her hand up, "I've seen it. It is pretty impressive."

"If Lilyflower thinks it's impressive then it has to be good," James said and McGonagall nodded, looking very surprised.

"Did Harry use it well?" Nikki asked Remus, "Obviously apart from getting caught by Snape."

Remus grinned, "He used it just like we used to. So yes, very well." The Marauders smiled at each other, "I had to confiscate it for a while after the incident with Snape, just in case he went looking for it again. But when I stopped teaching I gave it back to Harry. I told him that James would have been disappointed if his son didn't discover any of the secret passageways."

"Too right I would have," James laughed, "Imagine, a Potter not knowing any secret passageways." He shook his head, "The shame it would have brought to the family."

"Well, I also had to confiscate it from him because at the time I believed Sirius to be a murdering maniac and I knew that if the Map got into his hands, we would be in trouble." Remus added, just to torment Sirius.

"That's it!" Sirius yelled, standing up and raising his hands, "No more mentioning those hard times when you all thought I was crazy and dangerous."

"Not much of a change there, I have to say," Lily snuck in quietly and everyone tried to hide their laughter Sirius pushed on.

"It's making me very depressed. Okay, so no more sad, scary stories about lunatics scaring children by leaning over their beds with knives, it's just stupid." He looked at McGonagall, the cheeky grin back in place, "How about we hear another story?"

* * *

**A/N: And third year is done! I hope you liked it. I have been getting a few people saying that Sirius and everyone are a little annoying and hyper but I guess I made them that way in this story (moreso then in my other stories) just to highlight the light heartedness of it all, how fun it is meant to me. If they're annoying you, I apologize but they're really not going to change too much. Minnie makes sure they don't go too crazy though :)**

**Guesses for the next chapter are welcome. Fourth year is pretty obvious but I feel like I should warn you now, the part from Harry's year that I originally wrote was not in the book, only in the movie. I didn't realise this until I had written it and I really don't want to re-write it because it works well with the Marauder story. You will understand later. **

**Feel free to guess anyway! Once again, prize for the right guesses!**


	5. The Perils of Transfig

**A/N: I told you at the end of the last chapter that the story Minnie tells from Harry's year in this chapter is not from the books. I am just reminding you so I don't get masses of angry reviews. I will explain at the bottom. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HP**

* * *

Sighing, McGonagall stood from the couch which now had the indent of where she had been sitting. "Alright, I think it's time I went home. I've told enough stories for the day."

"NO!" Sirius and Nikki yelled in unison. Sirius even managed to jump up and grab the hem of McGonagall's robe. She looked down at him in annoyance and attempted to shake the material free, but he held on tightly.

"Oh, Minnie, please don't go yet!" Sirius cried, "You've only told a couple of stories, and we haven't even gotten to the best bit yet!" He suddenly looked down at the fabric he was clutching in his hand, "Wow," he murmured, "You're robe is so soft. What kind of fabric is this?"

"I don't know," McGonagall replied curtly, "I didn't buy it. It was a present."

An odd expression came onto her face, one that no one else in the room had seen before. She almost looked wistful, and there was a small smile that curled the corners of her lips.

Nikki gasped and jumped up, "Minerva McGonagall!" She gaped, "Could that possibly be blush on your cheeks!"

"Blushing? _Minnie_?" James looked shocked, "That's not possible!" But despite his disbelieving words, he stood up to stare at her too.

McGonagall stepped back, the blush rising a little at being caught. "Don't be absurd! Have you ever known me to blush?"

"That's what makes it so unbelievable, my dear professor." Sirius admitted, standing as well and leaning closer to her, "Curious…"

"Okay, okay! That's enough guys, leave Minerva alone." Remus said, pushing everyone away from the embarrassed professor. He glanced at her and tried to suppress his smile, "You shouldn't need to stand so close to her to know she is clearly blushing."

Sirius and James laughed and high-fived their friend, "I'm so proud of you Moony," Sirius said, pretending to tear up and wrapping an arm around Remus who looked slightly uncomfortable, "After all these years, you have finally learnt the art of teasing professors." He turned his attention from his friend to McGonagall. "So, who were you blushing over, Minnie? A special man?" He waggled his eyebrows and McGonagall looked disgusted.

"I'm not even going to dignify you with an answer, Black. I would never tell you anything so private."

He shrugged and flopped back on the couch, releasing Remus from the cage of his arm. "Fine, but I'll get it out of you eventually. I'm not going to bother now, it's interrupting out story time."

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "I'm leaving, Black. No more stories for you."

"Please?" He turned on his puppy-dog eyes to the max. "Just one more?"

She stared him down, unaffected by his pleading gaze. "Really, Sirius? You only want one more?"

"Well, two…three."

Lily suddenly piped up, "It would be nice to hear a few more stories, if that's alright Minerva. You know how much James and I love to hear about Harry."

McGonagall sighed, "If I must. I will tell three more stories, but then I'm going home. It's been a long day."

"I bet you're exhausted." Tonks nodded, "What with scaring Lily and shocking Sirius, then James. Then coming here and telling horrible stories to Lily and James about he son they have never really met, and then listening to all those terribly boring stories that we told…it must be really hard for you."

"I don't appreciate your tone, Nymphadora." McGonagall glared at her, but there was a twinkle in her eyes that defied her accusing voice. "Alright, what story do you want to hear now? A short one, if possible."

"You know, Minnie," James said with a frown, "You have not told one story yet that involves Transfiguration. I'm surprised, considering it is the subject you teach."

She thought about it and realised that he was right. "That's true, Potter. And I have the perfect story for it. I'm sure you'll like it, it involves Lucius Malfoy's son."

All three Marauders made faces, "I hate it already." Sirius said.

McGonagall shook her head, "Let me rephrase that. It involves Lucius Malfoy's son getting transfigured into a rodent."

The Marauders immediately brightened, "I love it already!" James said loudly, "Please continue, Minnie."

"It was Harry's fourth year, just before the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament in which Harry was forced to compete as I'm sure you all remember."

Everyone nodded with solemn looks on their faces and she continued in a business-like tone. "I don't really know what happened of course, as I wasn't actually there for the beginning of it. But my sources tell me that Lucius Malfoy's son Draco started taunting Harry about how long he was going to last during the Task that was ahead."

James locked his jaw at the very thought of Harry fighting with Draco just like he used to with Lucius. He didn't want Harry to be constantly battling with someone like Lucius for the entirety of his Hogwarts life. He hadn't enjoyed it while he was at school and he certainly didn't want that for his son.

"That sounds like a Malfoy." Sirius growled, looking very unhappy.

"Anyway," McGonagall continued, not seeming to appreciate the interruption, "From what I heard, Harry didn't take the jibes too easily, which wouldn't surprise me, considering the relationship he had with Draco while they were at school."

"Wait, you mean that they had a better relationship after Hogwarts?" Nikki cut in, looking very surprised, as did everyone else in the room, "A Potter and a Malfoy, getting along? What is this ridiculousness?"

McGonagall smiled slightly, "Draco was not as similar to his father as I had originally thought. He helped Harry, Ron and Hermione during the Battle at Hogwarts and in the years that followed, from what I know of, he was on speaking terms with Harry and his friends."

James was shaking his head, "I'm sorry, there's too much bad blood there. I can't picture a Malfoy being good. That's not a concept my brain can wrap around."

Sirius snorted, "Well, let's just add that to the incredibly long list of things your brain can't wrap around." He pretended to write on an invisible bit of paper.

Everyone laughed except James who pouted. Remus was still chuckling when he said, "You shouldn't talk, Padfoot. If my memory serves me correctly, your list is about ten times longer then James's."

"I wasn't going to mention that. Thanks Moony." Sirius huffed, but the smile on his face was still noticeable.

"Well, now that we've got all that nonsense established, shall I continue with the story?" McGonagall asked and when they all nodded she said, "As you would expect, Harry fought back at Malfoy very quickly. I seem to remember he was a bit short-tempered at the time. What with the stress of being the youngest Champion in history and being in the middle of a fight with Ron at the time. No," She said when several people opened their mouths to interrupt, "that is a different story for another time.

"By the time I arrived on the scene, Professor Moody—yes, Mad Eye Moody—was standing with Harry, his wand out and looking very pleased with himself. Crabbe—one of Malfoy's cronies, and I'm sure you know that name as well—was standing opposite them looking shell shocked. That was when I noticed that there was a white ferret on the ground, running from the direction of Crabbe's pants." James and Sirius were beginning to look more amused by the minute, having managed to piece together what had happened.

"I asked what was going on, but Moody proceeded to ignore me, levitating the ferret and throwing it around in the air with his wand. It was then I realised that the ferret was in fact a student. Luckily, I managed to transfigure it back into it's original form, and it turns out that Moody thought he could punish Malfoy but treating him to a lesson of animal transfiguration. He looked rather scared, I have to say, and he ran off without another word. Harry was rightly amused and Moody looked proud of himself. Of course, that isn't a proper punishment for students and he should have known better." She added the last part with a bit of a grumble, the teacher in her coming out.

James and Sirius were now rolling on the floor in laughter, Nikki and Tonks giggling along with them. Lily and Remus were both unable to contain their grins. After a moment or two, James managed to sit up and, wiping tears from his eyes, he said, "Man, I wish I had thought of that. That would have been a great revenge for Lucius, the bastard."

"I have always found Transfiguration to be rather funny. No offence, Minnie." Sirius agreed, "I especially love it when people transfigure other people into animals. I think its so—"

"Oh!" Lily suddenly gasped, cutting Sirius from his rant. A smile slowly formed on her face, "I have a wonderful story that I would like to share. I do believe you all know it. Well, maybe not you, Tonks," she gave an apologetic smile to the woman sitting opposite her, "but you will definitely find it amusing. I know Nikki remembers it especially well." She grinned evilly at her friend.

Nikki looked confused, "What? What story involving transfiguration would I…" her eyes suddenly grew very wide, "No! You can't tell that story! You're supposed to be my best friend! _Please_ don't do that to me!"

Lily was now grinning hugely, "Consider it payback my dear, for you letting slip the secret I told you in confidence!"

"But that was _so _not as bad as this!"

"Yes it is!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes it—"

"Oh, just shut up and someone tell the damn story!" Sirius shouted.

Lily smiled happily and Nikki sank into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're supposed to defend me, Sirius!" Nikki snapped, "I'm your girlfriend!"

"And I love you, Nik," Sirius replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "But you should have thought of that before you got me all intrigued and excited to hear your juicy secret that clearly no one except Lily knows."

"And she wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Ever!"

"I do believe you threatened me with death if I ever told anyone and considering we are now dead, my promise doesn't apply anymore because you can't do anything to me." Lily grinned, throwing Nikki's words from earlier that night back at her.

Sirius was starting to get irritated, "Lilyflower, stop talking and start story-telling."

"If you insist, Sirius." Lily said, clasping her hands together in her lap and sitting up straighter. "It all started after you and Nikki had that massive fight in the middle of the Great Hall the middle of Sixth Year. Sirius, you snapped at her because she spoke to Amos Diggory and she yelled back at you that you didn't own her or something and it turned into a very large shouting match that ended with food on both of you. Remember that?"

They both nodded, Sirius now looking just as sullen as Nikki. That was the worst fight they had ever had because they hadn't yet accepted their feelings for each other.

"I remember that!" James piped up, looking very amused. "It was funny because Lily and I weren't the ones fighting. Ah, good times."

Lily nodded, "And then, Sirius, being the idiot that he is—"

"Hey!"

"—went off and made out with those two Ravenclaw girls who happened to be best friends and twin sisters. Not at the same time, of course!" She added hastily when McGonagall looked rather shocked and Tonks grinned, "One was just after the fight and the other was later that night. Or something."

"In my defence," Sirius said loudly, "I thought they were the same person! They looked very similar and it was even harder to tell at night so I assumed it was the same girl."

Lily rolled her eyes and ignored him, "What were their names again?"

"Rachel and Rose," Nikki answered sulkily.

"Those are the ones!" Lily smiled, "Then, the next day they're both walking down the corridor, whispering about Merlin knows what, completely unaware that they had both just made out with Sirius within hours of each other. Sirius, James, Remus, Nikki and I all happen to be walking down the same corridor at the same time. Well, we weren't just walking. I remember I was trying to pry Nikki off Sirius because she was trying to strangle him after he said something particularly nasty to her—"

"And James and I were trying to get Sirius to shut up." Remus finished for her, a slight grin on his face, "I remember now."

"I'm feeling very left out." Tonks frowned, "I so wish I went to school with you all. It would have been so much more fun and interesting."

"Interesting, yes. Fun…not as much." Remus admitted, reaching out to hold his wife's hand. "Trust me, you will like this story. And Lily is a very good storyteller so it will be like you actually were there."

Lily grinned her thanks at Remus before she continued, her words started to get faster as she got more excited, "So, everyone is wrestling Nikki and Sirius off each other as we head straight into the path of Rachel and Rose. All of a sudden, Rachel, I think it was, comes running up to Sirius, throwing herself on him and exclaiming how much she loved him and how great last night was. Of course, Rose, having heard this comes charging over and pulls her sister off Sirius, demanding to know what happened the night before."

Sirius nodded seriously (no pun intended), "The Sirius Spell."

James ignored his best friend, but, unable to resist teasing him, took over, "So Rachel, as all the girls did back then after spending some time with Sirius in a broom closet, yells for the whole world to hear that she made out with our very own Padfoot, here. Then Rose says that she did exactly the same thing, which puts Sirius in a very awkward situation but a very amusing one for the rest of us."

"We stayed out of it, of course, Minerva," Remus said to McGonagall, "We moved to the side and tried not to make anymore trouble."

"The hell we did!" James laughed, "Nikki, the tiger that she is, jumped right into the fray, taunting the poor girls and saying that they couldn't possibly both have Sirius because he was only one man and there were two of them. They didn't like that very much; let me tell you, Minnie. They started shouting at each other and pulling hair and saying things that I can't really repeat in the presence of a teacher." He sent a guilty grin McGonagall's way.

"Of course then the genius that is Sirius Black steps in and makes everything worse by saying that they can share him." Lily started up again, not grinning anymore, but staring at Nikki warily. Her friend sighed in resignation and nodded slightly at Lily to get it over with. "But, Rose and Rachel, like the rest of the school at that time thought—very rightly I might add—that Sirius was in love with Nikki and visa versa. So Sirius, in his immortal wisdom, blurts out that he would never date Nikki because he hates her guts. Well, not in those exact words but you get the picture." Sirius and Nikki now both looked incredibly uncomfortable. They were looking in completely different directions, with Sirius staring at the floor in misery.

"Not my finest hour," he mumbled to the ground.

There was a moment of tense silence before Tonks said softly, "And what did you do, Nikki?"

She glanced back at her friend for a second with a pained face, "I ran away. To the kitchens."

Sirius's head snapped up to her, "You went to the kitchens? Why?"

"Why would I have stayed, Sirius?" She asked irritably, "You broke my heart. What was the point in staying to listen to the rest of it?"

"Because I would have done something to try to fix it!"

She snorted, "Oh really? You obviously didn't even realise I was gone. That doesn't say much about you feeling guilty."

"Well I did! As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realised what I had said so I turned around to apologize to you and you were gone. I looked for you for the rest of the day and I couldn't find you anywhere."

Her face softened slightly, "Really?"

"It's true, Nik. He did try to find you. Even I could see how sorry he was." Lily said, "You shouldn't have reacted so quickly."

"Yeah, you definitely shouldn't have left," James agreed, "You missed the best part!"

Nikki rolled her eyes, "Oh really, Potter. In that situation with those two girls, how did it possibly get any better then that?"

"Sirius tried to throw one of them off the Astronomy Tower!" James crowed, looking like he had been dying to say it.

"_What?"_ Nikki, Tonks and McGonagall all yelled at the same time.

"James!" Lily scolded, hitting her husband on the arm, "If you want to tell the story, you have to tell it properly!"

"Sorry," he mumbled, "There was a lot of stuff in between that but that part was my favourite."

Lily shook her head at James before saying, "What my dope of a husband means is that after you ran, Nik, Rose and Rachel started fighting for real. They both drew their wands and there were curses flying everywhere. We tried to stop them, Minerva," Lily insisted, glancing at McGonagall, "But Sirius and I were too scared to even get close to them, Remus left his wand in his dormitory and James, well, James was having too much fun to make them stop." She sent a scathing glance at James who shrugged, unperturbed.

"They fought for a few minutes before Rose got a good shot in. Suddenly, where Rachel had just been standing, there was a beautiful, white swan. I think she had actually tried to turn her into an ugly duckling but the spell went wrong somewhere and she turned her into a swan instead." Lily chuckled, along with James and Remus.

"Why do you think that?" Tonks asked, giggling.

James laughed loudly, "Because when the swan popped up, Rose started screaming, 'STUPID TRANSFIGURATION! I WANTED A BLOODY UGLY DUCKLING! SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE UGLY AND HORRIBLE, NOT BEAUTIFUL!'" He switched back from making a loud, screeching voice to his normal voice, "It was rather amusing."

"Oh!" McGonagall suddenly gasped, "That's why Remus came to my office with a swan that year. I tried to get Rose to tell me what happened but she never told me. I had always wondered about that. Thank you for finally filling in the blanks for me."

"But we're not finished yet!" James cried, "I haven't got to the best bit." When he was sure he had McGonagall's full attention he said, "So Sirius gets distracted by this beautiful swan and for some reason he starts to fully believe that the swan should be free and not trapped inside the castle. No idea why."

"Why _did_ you think that, Sirius?" Remus asked, "I mean, it didn't surprise me that you were so easily swayed, but you saw her get transfigured didn't you?"

Sirius shook his head quickly, "No, I didn't! I was looking for Nikki! I didn't see her cast the spell. When I turned back around there was this beautiful swan were Rachel had been standing. I assumed that she had run away, you know, all teary and everything. It was girl's usual reaction when they realised they couldn't have me." He shrugged and Nikki rolled her eyes. James, Lily and Remus were glad to see normal actions from the two of them—it showed that the worst was over.

"Anyway," James continued, "Padfoot went all animal-lover on our asses, which kind of makes sense seeing as he is a…never mind." He had only just managed to catch himself from mentioning their Animagus's in front of McGonagall, "So he thought that he should get Rachel the Swan out of the castle somehow. The front doors were on the other side of the castle, so he figured that he could just chuck her off the top of the Astronomy Tower!" He rolled his eyes with a huge grin.

"I thought she could fly!" Sirius shouted in indignation, "I didn't know swans weren't the best fliers! They have wings, so why can't they fly?"

Lily couldn't resist diving into some knowledge, "They can fly, but they're so big that they wouldn't survive being thrown off a building. Not all birds can fly, you know. Just because they have wings doesn't make them a flier. Some birds are so adapted to their environment they don't need to fly. Like penguins and ostriches and emus and—"

"Don't care!" Sirius shouted and she rolled her eyes.

James glanced at his wife to make sure she wasn't too hurt. When she looked fine, he continued. "Luckily, Moony managed to catch up to Sirius and grab Rachel/the swan just as Sirius was shouting 'Fly beautiful swan! Fly free!' and trying to throw it off the Tower."

"And then I ran to you, Minerva, before Sirius could do anything else and I took Rose with me, who was still very angry I'm sure you noticed." Remus said.

McGonagall nodded, "I did notice she didn't look to happy. Fortunately for her and for Rachel I managed to transfigure her back and only left them with a detention each."

Lily snorted, "You let them get off lightly. It would have easily been a month's worth of detentions if you had seen them duelling or heard the names they were calling each other before. It was ghastly." She pretended to shudder.

"Like I said; fun times." James grinned.

Lily looked softly at Nikki, "I'm sorry I told them what you did when Sirius said those things, Nik, but really, he needed to know. He needed to know how much you cared about him at that time, so he realises what an ass he was." She glared at Sirius who looked insulted.

"I knew what an ass I had been! That's why I was trying to hunt her down to apologize from the moment the words left my mouth. But in the end it was fine because I found her eventually."

James, Lily and Remus gaped, "How did we not know about this?" Lily gasped, "When did you find her? Did you apologize? Did you beg for her forgiveness on your hands and knees?"

Sirius shrugged, "I found her at about midnight that night in the kitchens. I didn't mean to, I was going for a snack and she just happened to be in there. And yes, I grovelled."

"But not before we had another screaming match for a while," Nikki reminded him. She glanced up at Lily, "After we got the yelling over with he begged for my forgiveness, feelings were declared and then…well, let's just say it all turned out great in the end." Sirius took her hand and they smiled at each other happily.

Lily wrinkled her nose, "That's when you…"

"…started dating." Nikki finished for her with a grin and a wink.

"Secretly." Lily stated, "I'm still mad that you did that to me. More importantly, I can't believe Sirius managed to keep that a secret so successfully."

"Hey! I can be trusted…for some things." He protested.

Remus laughed, "Hmm, shall we go through the list of things Sirius has not managed to keep a secret for more then a week?"

"No!" James grinned, "That list is even longer then the list of things that Sirius can't get his head around." He and Remus grinned at each other while Sirius pouted at them both.

"Some friends you are." He grumbled.

"We're amazing friends!" James protested, "We have kept so many secrets of yours. I swear I haven't told a soul to this day that you wore a diaper until you were ten. Whoops." He covered his mouth with both his hands as if he was guilty, but his eyes were shining with mirth behind his glasses.

"OI!" Sirius yelled just as everyone—except McGonagall, but she had a noticeable smile on her face—burst out laughing.

"You wore a diaper?" Tonks gasped out between giggles.

"Until he was TEN!" Nikki finished for her, clutching her stomach as she doubled over with laughter.

Sirius's face was growing redder by the second, "Shut up!" He shouted but no one listened to him, "I was a late bloomer, okay? My bloody mother couldn't be bothered to teach me to use the toilet. I had to teach myself, and it was _really _hard, alright?"

"Oh God," Remus gasped, "I can't believe I didn't know that! Prongs, how could you not tell me that? All the times I could have used it for blackmail."

"Sorry, Moony, I had promised to take it to my grave." James managed, still laughing. "Hey!" He stopped laughing but the grin was still in place, "I did keep my promise! I took it to the grave. I never promised anything about what I would do with it afterwards."

Lily rolled her eyes, "That joke is going to go on forever!"

"So is tonight, at the rate its going." McGonagall grumbled.

"Ah, Minnie, you love us." Sirius grinned at her, "Don't deny it."

McGonagall merely rolled her eyes, "Do you want another story, Black? Because if you keep talking, you're not going to get one."

Sirius's eyes instantly went wide in horror. "Another story! Sorry, Minnie, I'll shut up now." He pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key.

And so McGonagall started another story, but she knew that everyone else had noticed.

She hadn't denied it.

* * *

**A/N: That's it! hopefully you're not too mad! I had already started writing the chapter when I realised it was only in the movie but it worked so well with the Rose/Rachel story that I had to keep up with it. Sorry again. A s****pecial mention to my friends Rose and Rachel who were so utterly disappointed that I didn't include them in my original fanfiction that i wrote a chapter especially for them. You're welcome guys :)**

**Also, I realised that I have been incredibly lazy with thanking the people who helped with each chapter so I would like to say a HUGE thanks to make up for not mentioning them in the previous chapters. To my good friends and darling helpers _coffeykrum, procrastinator101, _and _GB _THANK YOU!**

**Guesses for the next chapter are still welcome! the next chapter is from the book, I promise :) again, a prize for the correct guess**


	6. Silly Stunts

**A/N: apparently the transfiguration of Draco _is _in the fourth book. I'm glad I have such smart readers who know their HP. Thanks for letting me know. Now I feel silly that I didn't find it in the book, but it is a big book! Anyway, enjoy fifth year!**

**DISCLAIMER: JK ROWLING OWNS HP. I ONLY OWN THIS STORYLINE**

* * *

"If we're up to fifth year, what story can I tell?" McGonagall mused, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully.

"Ooh something to do with Quidditch!" Nikki said, excitement shining in her eyes, "We haven't had a story about Quidditch yet!"

James and Sirius brightened immediately and started nodding enthusiastically in support of Nikki's idea. McGonagall tried not to smile, "Well, I do have a story about Harry and Quidditch I suppose I could tell…" The nodding became even more enthusiastic, "But it's not necessarily a happy story. It involves a few punches being thrown."

Sirius snorted, "What's your definition of a happy story then, Minnie? A few punches being thrown generally leads to a greatly amusing story!"

McGonagall shrugged, "We will see what your reaction is after I tell it, shall we Black?" without waiting for his answer she started telling. "It was Harry's fifth year, as I have mentioned before, which means that this was one of the hardest for Harry. It was just after he watched Voldemort and announced that he was back, so the Ministry, who were in denial for the entire year, were making up all sorts of terrible things about him being mad and unstable and violent."

James looked outraged and Lily instantly had tears in her eyes, "How could they do that to our boy? After what he had just been through? He had seen his friend be murdered right in front of him for heaven's sake!"

"The Ministry was petrified, Lil," Remus shook his head, "They did not want to believe that Voldemort was back because it would mean more danger for everyone and another war. They just didn't want to go through that stress again."

"Basically they were spineless gits." Sirius put in.

"They were mad with terror," Tonks added, "The Minister himself, Fudge, worked himself into a state that can only be described as delusional. He had managed to convince himself that everyone was safe and that there was no chance Voldemort was back and he stopped at nothing to try and convince the public of that too."

Lily put her head in her hands, her heart aching for her son and how hard it must have been for him at that time. He had just witnessed a friend die and his enemy return to power and the whole world had turned against him. James put an arm around her shaking shoulders, trying to stay strong for her.

"He still had us, though!" Sirius said, noticing how much pain his friends were in, "Moony and I, and the entire Order of the Phoenix were behind him. Not to mention Dumbledore and McGonagall and his friends at school."

"Most of his school friends," McGonagall amended, "Some were starting to believe the lies that the Daily Prophet was continuously printing. To add to that, Dolores Umbridge was appointed to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts straight from the Ministry itself." McGonagall frowned angrily.

Nikki, who had been looking very unhappy for the duration of the conversation, now grinned, leaning forward to look at McGonagall more closely, "Am I seeing this right? Did Minnie hate a fellow teacher?"

"Damn straight she did!" Sirius smirked, "They hated each others guts. Didn't you, Minnie?"

"I didn't hate her," McGonagall said stubbornly, "I just disliked her. Strongly."

Lily raised her face from her hands to smile at her Transfiguration teacher and James chuckled, "She must have been a right bitch for you to not be able to stand her, Minnie."

McGonagall surprised everyone by not even mentioning his use of a swear word and just nodded, "None of the students liked her either. The Gryffindor Quidditch team particularly hated her after she banned their best players from Quidditch for life.

"But wasn't Harry one of the best…" Nikki trailed off in horror as McGonagall nodded.

James clenched his teeth and balled up his fists, "She did _what?_"

"I told you it wasn't going to be a happy story." McGonagall pointed out. "But let me give you the bigger picture. It was the first Quidditch game of the season and Gryffindor versus Slytherin—"

"Of course it was." Sirius muttered sourly.

McGonagall sent him a glare but continued, "Ron had just been added to the team as Keeper and he was very nervous about it. He was not confident and had been fumbling in trainings so I heard, so he was petrified and unprepared."

"Which is never a good thing for a Quidditch game," Nikki grimaced. "Poor thing."

"To make it worse, the Slytherins, headed by Draco Malfoy—" James, Sirius and Remus all glowered darkly— "had made up a song to antagonise Ron and make him feel hopeless. It was called Weasley is our King and was essentially making fun of the Weasley family and that Ron would not be able to block any of Slytherin's goals, therefore letting them win."

Everyone was staring McGonagall, horrified. "That's just awful!" Lily cried, her heart now aching for Ron.

"How did I not know about this?" Sirius bellowed, "Ron doesn't deserve that! The Weasley's don't deserve that!"

McGonagall clearly was not happy either, "It was a terrible thing to do. Not only was it demoralising, it was also very distracting. The entire Slytherin house were chanting it all through the game it was very clearly effecting Ron. The more goals he let through, the louder the song got."

Remus was now copying James's stiff posture, his hands closed in tight fists, wondering how he had never known about this. Nikki, Lily and Tonks were looking outraged and Sirius was muttering profanities against the Malfoy's under his breath.

Continuing like she couldn't feel the anger that was reverberating off the group, McGonagall continued, "Luckily for Gryffindor, the rest of the team was able to make up for some goals and Harry had a very close run with Malfoy for the snitch but yes, he managed to get it and Gryffindor won," she assured James and Sirius who were staring at her in agitation.

They both relaxed immediately and she grimaced, not wanting to see their reactions to the next part of the story. "Ron was extremely upset after the match and he wandered off the grounds alone while the rest of the team was congratulating Harry on his catch of the snitch."

She ignored Lily's sad sigh, "Naturally, the Slytherins were not particularly happy about the outcome of the match and so Malfoy started jeering at Harry about his lyrics for the song. I don't know exactly what he said as I was sitting in the stands with the rest of the teachers but I could see that it was irritating Harry and the rest of the team greatly.

"From where I was sitting I could see that Malfoy was yelling and laughing at Harry and Fred and George. Ron, of course had walked away and so he couldn't hear what Malfoy was saying either. I saw that Harry was holding George and Angelina, Katie and Alicia, the Gryffindor Chasers, were all struggling to keep Fred from attacking Malfoy."

"Then what happened?" Nikki breathed leaning forward in her seat.

"Wait, you said that Harry got banned for fighting," Remus said but Sirius cut over him.

"She didn't _say_ that he got banned, Rem." He smirked, "Did you hear her say those exact words?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Whatever. She _implied _it, Padfoot." He glanced back at McGonagall in confusion, "So how does that work if he's holding on to George?"

McGonagall shook her head, "As I said before I couldn't hear what Malfoy was saying but I could see what was happening. One moment Harry was blocking George from attacking Malfoy, but then Draco said something that obviously caused Harry to snap because then he had let go of George and they both charged at Malfoy and started beating the living daylights out of him."

"Go Harry!" James and Sirius both grinned while Tonks frowned.

"He must have said something pretty bad to anger both Harry and Fred and George. Do you have any idea what they said?" She asked slightly warily.

McGonagall dodged the question. "After Madam Hooch managed to get them off Malfoy she sent them straight up to my office. I was already on my way of course, having been horrified by their actions—

"If he was provoking them what did you expect they do?" James yelled, "I bet he said something really nasty! Those Malfoys always go straight for where it hurts, not even caring about anyone else."

Sirius and Remus were nodding, looking grim.

Lily was shaking her head in horror, "I just can't believe Harry would do something like that, even if it is Malfoy. Two against one? That's hardly fair."

"And making up an entire song to sing in front of the whole school just to demoralise one kid is?" Sirius said, staring at her in shock.

"Of course not!" She cried, looking distraught at the thought of it, "Obviously he had it coming to him for something like that. But I just can't imagine that Harry would stoop to that level just because Malfoy was annoying him. He had lost the game, what did they expect?"

"Lils, we don't know what Malfoy said yet," Nikki reasoned, "it might have been something that just pushed Harry off the edge. He had to be pretty high strung after having that song sung about his best friend for the entire game."

Lily sighed, "I know and I guess I can understand that. It's just that even with whatever Malfoy said, it can't have been—"

"He insulted you." McGonagall cut in.

There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" James asked in an eerily quiet voice.

She sighed, not wanting to see his reaction, but knowing that she could no longer avoid the inevitable explanation. "Once I had yelled at them both a little in my office, George told me that Malfoy was making fun of his parents," she glanced at Lily for a moment, "and that he insulting Harry's mother."

The silence dragged on longer this time. Everyone turned to look at Lily who was staring at McGonagall with a blank face. James was so infuriated he got up and started pacing up and down the room, one hand clenched tightly into a fist and the other running through his hair and gripping it in agitation.

"Huh," Lily said after a moment, still unable to wrap her head around it.

That seemed to break everyone out of silence.

"I can't _believe _it!" Nikki shrieked, "He insulted Lily? Does he have no respect for anyone at all?"

"Of course not, he's a Malfoy." Sirius snapped, looking murderous, "The little shits don't care about anyone other then themselves."

Remus ran a hand through his hair in agitation, "I bet he insulted Lily's blood as a Muggleborn. That's the sort of cheap shot he would go for."

"I just don't understand why someone would do something like that. How could anyone who is capable of any human emotion make fun of someone's parents who were no longer around?" Nikki raged, "Especially Lily, who sacrificed herself to save Harry. Harry was alive because of her and Malfoy goes and insults her? No wonder he snapped!"

"Deserved a lot worse." Sirius grumbled.

Lily was sitting in silence, ignoring everyone's mutterings. She was insulted and annoyed with Malfoy and his words, but she couldn't quite find it in herself to stay mad at him. She certainly couldn't put her mix of jumbled emotions into words, even if she wanted to. Instead she turned to see James still pacing up and down at the end of the room, muttering to himself.

"James?" She called tentatively, taking it as a good sign that he turned to face her and didn't ignore her entirely. "Please don't take it too badly honey, it was a long time ago and he didn't say it directly to my face or anything."

"But that just makes it ten times worse!" He burst out, "He didn't say it to you or to me, he said it to Harry. To your son, Lily. And that is what makes me so mad. Of course I'm angry that he even thought about insulting you in the slightest, but I can't stand that he used you as ammunition against Harry. I just…ugh I want to kill him."

"You haven't heard the worst of it yet," McGonagall said, after having been silent for sometime.

James looked at her in disbelief, "What could possibly be worse then Malfoy insulting Lily?"

"Well, I was just as infuriated as you all are that Malfoy had been so harsh about Lily to Harry and I understood why he would react in such a way, but, being a teacher and his Head of House I had to inflict some sort of punishment. So, I told him and George that they would have a weeks worth of detentions—no!" she glared at Sirius who opened his mouth to protest, "Don't you dare complain about that punishment, Black, that was nothing compared to what Umbridge set upon them."

James's face darkened even further, if that was possible. "Was she the one that—"

"Potter, I am telling the story." McGonagall said sternly and he sighed, finally sinking back onto the couch next to Lily. She exhaled in relief, hoping that the worst was over. She gave him soft smile and took his hand as McGonagall continued, "Just as I was giving them their punishments, Umbridge announced her presence with that stupid little cough she did," Everyone couldn't help but smile slightly as McGonagall's annoyance for Umbridge came out through her tone, "She then announced that the Minister had given her power as the 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor'—"

"The what?" James asked ignoring the look McGonagall gave him.

"It was a silly made up position the Ministry gave her in Hogwarts to expand her powers further then those of an average teacher." She waved her hand dismissively, "She claimed that she had power over all the teachers, second only to the Headmaster. So she decided that not only Harry and George, but also Fred 'to be safe' would have a lifetime ban from Quidditch."

Again, there was silence.

Then, "She _what?"_

Sirius had taken James's previous position of pacing at the back of the room, "I can't believe she did that!" He yelled, "A lifetime ban? That's just inhumane!"

Lily squeaked in pain as James involuntarily closed both his hands into tight fists again, including the one that was holding Lily's. He muttered an apology to her with his eyes closed and then concentrated on breathing deeply.

"And on Fred too?" Nikki looked almost as outraged as Sirius, "That's just cruel! He didn't even do anything!"

"Her reasoning was that he would have done something if he team mates hadn't been holding him back." McGonagall said, a grimace on her face.

Sirius immediately rounded on her, "Why did you do anything? You were their Head of House, and the Deputy Headmistress! Couldn't you stop her!

"Excuse me, Black." She turned on her full glare and he shrank back a little, "You don't think I just agreed to that punishment, do you? I was just as horrified as you all are. She got rid of almost half my Quidditch team! It was most definitely not her place to delegate punishments like that, and they didn't deserve anything near that harsh. But I couldn't argue against it without taking it up with the Minister himself and if I did, I most likely would have been given the sack. My hands were tied."

"Fine," he huffed, plopping back down into his seat next to Nikki, "Banned from Quidditch," he moaned, "What a nightmare."

Remus surprised everyone by laughing, "Well, you would know, wouldn't you Padfoot?"

Sirius looked at him in confusion before his eyes widened, "Oh Merlin," he breathed, "I'd completely forgotten about that."

"Forgotten about what?" James asked, "Moony what are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?" Sirius frowned at his best friend, "When you and I were banned from Quidditch for three weeks. You don't remember that?"

He furrowed his brow, thinking back, "It rings a bell, but I don't remember any of it. Three weeks without Quidditch?" He shuddered, "I probably blocked it from my memory."

Nikki laughed suddenly, "I know why you don't remember it, James. You were drunk for most of the time."

"That would make sense," he nodded.

"That's right!" Lily said, "I was so worried about you, James. I thought you'd completely cracked. I was so close to taking you to St Mungos to get you checked out."

"What are we talking about? When was this?" James demanded looking thoroughly confused.

"That time in sixth year, remember?" Sirius said, "Minnie here banned us from Quidditch for three weeks because we had that fight in that destroyed the Common Room and put Wormtail in the Hospital Wing for a week."

James frowned for a moment, racking his brains before his face lit up, "Oh yeah! That was because you were stupid enough to tell Snape to go to the Whomping Willow the night Moony was going to transform!"

Sirius shifted in his seat, "I was hoping you didn't remember that bit."

"Well, I remember that bit and I'm still mad at you for even thinking that was a good idea—"

"For Merlin's sake, James can't we just move on? I've told you how sorry I am for the last sixty years and you still haven't forgiven me. I was young and stupid and I wasn't thinking, alright?"

"No, it's not alright." James snapped, "You put not only Snape's life in danger, but also yours, mine and not to mention Moony's! You were the one that gave Snape his secret and I have no idea—"

Remus's strong voice cut over James's, "Give it a rest, Prongs." When James's face snapped over to his in shock, he rolled his eyes, "It's been _decades_. Let's not get into it now. We can save that argument for another time."

"Fine," James gave in before turning and glaring at Sirius again, "This isn't over."

Sirius huffed and glared back, but Nikki shook her head, "It never is."

Lily looked over to see Tonks glancing between Sirius and James, looking confused. When she noticed Lily smiling at her, Tonks grinned, "I know the story of Snape finding out about Remus's condition but I didn't realise that they were still going on about it."

Lily laughed, "It really is never ending. It was the worst fight they have ever had and it really hasn't ended. That night in the Common Room though," she shivered slightly, "It was actually rather scary."

Nikki nodded, "I had never seen you two like that before," She glanced between James and Sirius, who avoided her eyes, "It was like you were completely different people, yelling at each other and destroying the Common Room."

"But then Minerva punished them and they were back to normal," Remus grinned, "Scheming together to think of ways to keep themselves occupied without the distraction of Quidditch."

"It was really hard, too." Sirius said indignantly, "We spent a lot of the week flying or training or playing games and without any of that stuff for three weeks, we didn't know what to do."

"Imagine not having that for a lifetime," James mused with a horrified look on his face. Suddenly he shot up in his seat to look at McGonagall, "are Harry and Fred and George still banned?"

She smiled, remembering and shook her head, "Once Umbridge had left the school their bans were lifted. Fred and George got away with it early though because they managed to get their brooms back and flew out of the school long before the year was over." She shook her head, the smile still on her face, "That was one exit from school that I had never seen before." She glanced up to see the intrigued looks on their faces, "No, that's another story for another time."

"They're all for another time," Sirius groaned.

"I'm sure you'll get over it, Black." McGonagall snapped, back to her old self.

"I want to hear about how James and Sirius coped when they were banned from Quidditch," Tonks said, "If it was such an important part of your lives, how did you survive?"

"Easy, my dear cousin," Sirius smirked, "With the help of our good friend Firewhiskey."

She laughed and Remus shook his head, "That worked for the first few days until the teachers started getting suspicious. Eventually they had to limit the drinking to only during the times when they would have been playing Quidditch."

"Which, as they said before, was a lot of the time," Lily laughed, "And because they weren't out getting exercise, they became very lazy and spent a lot of their time with me indoors which wasn't annoying _at all._" She rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hang on," James looked at Lily in distress, "I spent three weeks hanging out with you in sixth year and I don't remember? All that valuable Lily-time, wasted!"

She ignored him, "You weren't always hanging out with me. Whenever you weren't annoying me to my wits end, you were with Remus."

Sirius looked at his friend, "What did we do with you, Moony? I remember hanging out with Lilyflower because it was heaps of fun annoying her while she was being a goody-two-shoes and trying to do her work but I don't remember what we did with you."

"You were trying to get yourselves killed," Remus shook his head almost affectionately, "and I spent most of the time trying to stop you."

"What do you mean they were trying to get themselves killed?" Nikki asked, looking worried.

Remus smiled, "They came up with all sorts of crazy schemes to feel like their lives weren't so empty without Quidditch."

Recognition registered on James's face, "Oh, was _that_ the reason behind trying to jump from the top of the Gryffindor Tower."

"You jumped out of the Gryffindor Tower?" McGonagall said in shock.

"Don't worry Minerva, I managed to stop them." Lily smiled to placate her before turning to glare at Remus, "I had come into the Common Room after breakfast that morning by myself because Nikki was at Quidditch Practice and James, Sirius and Remus hadn't come down to eat at all. When I walked into the room I found out why. Remus was asleep on the couch, with a book on his lap." She looked at her friend, "I almost woke you up to ask where James and Sirius where but you looked so tired I felt bad disturbing you."

"I'm glad you didn't wake me, I probably wouldn't have been very happy to see you. I had been up all night with these two wankers," he jabbed his thumb in the direction of Sirius and James who, after having been called that particular name for so many years, no longer found any offence in the word, "because they kept demanding that I quote Shakespeare to the and trying to get me to prank with them. You were very drunk." He added in explanation to the lack of remembrance on both their faces. They nodded in understanding.

"Well, it turned out that I didn't really have to wake you," Lily continued, "because a few seconds later, both Sirius and James appeared from the boys dormitories wearing only underwear and with their bed hangings tied around their necks like capes." The odd image caused the whole room to laugh, except James who shook his head.

"This is the only day of the whole three weeks I remember. How unfair is that? Out of all the days we were banned, I don't remember the ones where we pranked people, or spending countless hours in the presence of the beautiful Lilyflower but I remember the one day where we wore our bed hangings as capes and tried to jump from one of the highest points in the school." He hung his head, "Oh, the irony."

Lily continued to laugh as she spoke, "You were also yelling that if you could fly while wearing the Quidditch uniform then you could fly in bed hangings."

"But the uniform isn't what makes them fly…" Tonks said in confusion.

"I know," Lily nodded, still snickering, "That's what makes it so funny."

"So you saw what they were planning to do and convinced them to stop?" McGonagall asked Lily in order to regain her attention and so she could keep telling the story.

"Sort of," Lily smiled, having finally controlled her giggles, "At first I had no idea what they were planning to do. I thought they were just going to run about in their boxers to be honest, it's not like it would have been the first time." McGonagall sent stern looks at both James and Sirius but they were looking innocently in opposite directions.

"But then they started heading towards the open window, claiming they were sick of not being able to fly and I realised what they were going to do. So I grabbed the back of their…well, capes and pulled them off the windowsill." She rolled her eyes at her husband and his friend, "It was pretty stressful, let me tell you. I only just got there in time and it was all up to me to save their lives considering their best friend didn't seem too worried."

"Hey!" Remus said indignantly, "I was so damn tired from being up all night with them no wonder I didn't wake up through all of this. Besides, you even said yourself that you didn't need to wake me up."

James looked at Remus curiously, "What pranks did we do that night? I don't remember that part."

"There were a few." Remus answered, a grin creeping onto his face, "The only one I remember though was that you tried replacing Lily's hand cream with glue. It would have worked too if you hadn't been giggling so loudly while you were doing it. It was pretty funny," he laughed, earning as slap on the back of his head from Tonks.

Sirius burst into laughter, "Oh Merlin I remember that. Damn, that was a good plan. We should have tried again when we were sober. Imagine the look on Lily's face if we had gotten away with it," he glanced at her, still snickering, "It would have been so funny."

She glared at him for a moment before smiling sweetly. Sirius stopped laughing immediately, knowing that smile could only mean immense pain. He stood up and backed away from her warily. She got up too, walking towards him slowly as he continued to back further into the room.

"You know what I remember was really funny, Siri?" Lily asked in a sickly sweet voice, "That time when I kneed you in the gonads."

Sirius stopped moving and frowned at her, "I don't remember that."

She smiled again, "I know you don't, because I never got around to doing it." Before he could respond, she very hard and very quickly brought her knee up, right between his legs.

Immediately, he buckled over in pain, a very high pitched "ouch," coming out of his mouth before he collapsed on the floor. Everyone but Sirius burst out laughing, even McGonagall letting out a small chuckle.

Lily managed to gasp, "See, really funny," between her giggles.

Sirius moaned on the floor, his knees brought up to his chest, rolling around in pain. Nikki, still laughing crouched beside him and cooed, "Aw, poor Sirius. That sounds really painful."

He nodded at her, unshed tears in his eyes and whispered, "So painful."

"I guess you'll just have to rest that area for a while. Say, a week? Maybe two. Considering how painful it is." Nikki grinned wickedly, patting his hand before getting back up and moving back to her seat.

Sirius's eyes widened as he took in what he meant. Impossibly fast, he shot up to a standing position, "On second thoughts, it doesn't hurt at all." He walked slowly back to his seat on the couch, wincing slightly as he moved. He glared at Lily fiercely when he sat down, "That was so _not _funny, Lilyflower. It was just mean, you're mean."

She smirked, "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I've wanted to do that so badly since you pulled my hair on the first day of first year. Consider it payback."

"But that was so much meaner then everything I've done to you combined!"

Lily snorted and opened her mouth to disagree but Tonks cut over the top of her. "You know what would really be mean, Siri? If McGonagall got sick of you arguing with people and didn't tell us anymore stories."

As she expected, Sirius quickly turned to McGonagall and said, "Dora is right, Minnie. I'm sorry for talking so much that I'm limiting your story time. Do continue."

McGonagall sent a scolding look that clearly said _thanks so much, now I have to keep sitting here with Black and telling him stories. _Tonks just shrugged innocently, not withering at all under the Transfiguration teachers stare. McGonagall looked away from Tonks to scan the room, and noticed they were all waiting expectantly for another story. It was then, that she realised something in shock.

For the first time ever, McGonagall's students weren't scared of her in the slightest. She was overruled.

* * *

**A/N: Minnie without her power? What has this world come too? Don't worry, I'm sure she will get it back soon. There might be a bit of a gap between this and the next chapter, so stick with me please! We're almost finished and I want to give you guys the best two chapters yet so please be patient! Hopefully I will have them done soon.**

**Thanks to _coffeykrum_ and _procrastinator101 _for their imput in this chapter, it was needed and appreciated greatly.**

**I'm loving the reviews so far but I know there could be so much more! don't be shy! prize for the reader who guesses the plot of the next chapter (this one isn't very hard)**


	7. Relationship Woes

**I'M SO SORRY! *hides in shame* It's been so long and I'm really sorry! School is getting so busy and I had the worst writers block and just ugh...I hope you can all forgive me after this chapter. Hopefully.**

**DISCLAIMER: the usual: JK owns everything**

* * *

Before McGonagall even opened her mouth to start the story, James had started talking. "Ooh, Harry's sixth year is my favourite! What should this story be about? He got Quidditch Captain! Let's hear about one of his great wins! We've only heard about bad matches so far and it's really depressing me."

"James, she just told a story about Quidditch," Tonks moaned, "Lets have something different. How about what happened when Harry and Dumbledore went to look for the Horcrux in the cave."

"Minnie wouldn't know about that because she wasn't there," Sirius disagreed, making a _that's so obvious and you should have known that _face at Tonks. "What about when the Death Eaters attack Hogwarts?"

"Or the story of Ron getting a girlfriend and Hermione being jealous!" Nikki put in, looking excited.

Lily gasped, "Harry and Ginny finally getting together!"

There was a moment of silence before both Nikki and Tonks said, "That one! Tell us about that one, Minnie!"

Remus, James and Sirius groaned, "Too lovey-dovey," Sirius whined.

"Something complicated," Remus wanted.

"And exciting," added James.

The girls glared at their partners, loudly voicing their protests. Before the boys could respond, McGonagall held up a hand, "Stop. I am telling the stories, so I get to choose the story. Now, all of you had good suggestions, but I can only choose one part of Harry's year. It must be something I was present for, something I know and can remember a lot about. The thing with the story of how Harry and Ginny got together," she levelled a look at Lily, Tonks and Nikki, "is that I was not present when it happened, nor were any other teachers. Also, in the short time they were together in school, they were not particularly obvious about their relationship, they didn't flaunt it. However, Ron and Lavender were a different story. Well, Lavender was at least." She amended, smiling slightly in amusement.

It was quiet now, everyone looking at their late Transfiguration professor, trying to guess what story she was planning to tell. Eventually her silence was too much for Nikki, "Just tell us already!"

"Patience Miss Williamson," McGonagall scolded, "In a situation like this and involving your little group, I know from experience that disagreeing with you will get me nowhere. I have to compromise and hopefully you will see this story as a good choice. For the ladies, it has romance, and for you boys it is very complicated," she nodded at Remus, who grinned in appreciation, "and very exciting." James smiled in approval.

"What about me?" Sirius demanded, "Is it all sappy and lovey-dovey? Because if it is, I'm leaving." He made to get up but McGonagall wasn't fooled.

"Black, I highly doubt that after all the begging you have done for me to continue telling you stories that you will just up and leave."

He stood on the spot for the moment, obviously debating his options. He wanted to leave with his pride and dignity, but a larger part of him demanded to stay and listen to Minnie's stories about his godson. Grumbling about Minnie knowing him too well, he sat back down, trying to ignore the quiet laughter coming from everyone else.

McGonagall smirked triumphantly before starting her tale. "This is the story of the destructive relationship of Lavender Brown and Ronald Weasley." She managed to contain her smile when Lily, Tonks and Nikki all squealed in excitement like young girls.

"Why destructive?" Remus asked curiously, "I know the vague story of this relationship but I don't see how destructive would be the right word."

"You were not there, Remus," McGonagall glared at him slightly in indignation, "I think I would know better, and destructive is the perfect word."

James and Sirius laughed when Remus frowned, "Ooh Moony," Sirius teased, "She's disagreeing with your choice of words…does that make you angry?"

"Really Minnie," James shook his head, "You should know better then to fight with Remmy about words, he is the master of the vocabulary after all."

McGonagall sighed in frustration, "Potter, I'm not challenging Remus on his knowledge of words. That would be a waste of time and a rather silly thing to do because I know that Remus has an extremely large vocabulary. It was something he was always very good at during his time at Hogwarts."

Remus was glowing from this praise because everyone knew that Minnie rarely gave warm speeches, so even the smallest compliments meant a lot. But before he could thank her she hurried on, "I am just stating my personal opinion. It was rather a destructive relationship Ron and Lavender embarked on because the consequences of it did not just affect the two participants but everyone else around them and none in a good way. You will understand later," she said to her highly confused audience.

"I can't tell you why Ron was blindsided into going out with Lavender in the first place," McGonagall admitted, "Not that Lavender wasn't a lovely girl—she was well behaved and fairly bright and loyal to her friends but even the teachers could see that she had the potential to be…well, a little crazy." McGonagall allowed herself to chuckle slightly with the rest of the group as she remembered that particular Gryffindor. "And though I didn't have the insight into their relationship that people like Harry and Hermione did, I don't think that Ron even liked the poor girl much. At least, not enough to last very long spending time with her.

"They started dating not long into the start of their sixth year, just after Gryffindor were victorious in their Quidditch match against the Slytherins if my memory serves me correctly. After that they were, shall we say joined at the hip?"

Nikki snorted, "I think joined at the mouth sounds like it would be more accurate."

"I heard that was more like it," Tonks giggled, "Ginny told me that it was the only thing they ever did together. She thought that was all they had in common. I hate to say it but I think they were both a bit desperate for…um, company."

"Why would Ron be desperate?" Remus asked his wife, "I didn't think he minded when Harry had Cho for that brief amount of time. They were only young of course, so he shouldn't have felt pressured or anything."

"Yes he should have!" Sirius yelled. Remus rolled his eyes because as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew that Sirius would disagree. "He should have been spending all his free time in broom closets at sixteen. That's what I was doing." He added in a proud voice.

Lily looked disgusted, "Sirius you have no right in saying what Ron should have been doing. It's his own choice. Besides, you were only so…active when you were that age because you were well, a huge slut."

There was shocked silence before the entire room burst out laughing. Partly in surprise at Lily's use of the word (she was always calling Sirius names but she had never called him a slut before) and partly at Sirius's face. He was staring at her with his mouth wide open and his eyes bugging out.

"That's my girl," James smiled broadly, wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulders, "She tells it like it is, or was."

Sirius continued to stare at Lily in shock for a long moment and the rest of the group watched him in anticipation for what his reaction would be when he snapped out of his funk. Everyone was therefore rather surprised when he started grinning evilly at her.

"Well, well, well I'm rather surprised at you Lilyflower. Not only did you use a word I have only heard you say once before but you were also being highly hypocritical." He smirked.

Lily jumped up to smack him on the top of the head, "Are you calling me a slut, Sirius Black? ARE YOU?"

"NO!" Sirius yelled, grabbing a cushion from the couch and holding it over his head for protection against Lily's smacks, "What you said was perfectly true. I however, had the decency to think about others and pursue my activities in private—classrooms and broom closets, all that. _You _were not as kind."

Dropping her hands at her sides, Lily stared at him in confusion, "What are you talking about you mental patient? When did I ever flaunt my relationships?"

Sirius quirked an eyebrow, "It was only the one time that we caught you."

"_We?_ What the hell are you talking about, Black?"

Instead of answering her, Sirius turned to look at Remus and James. "Do you guys remember? That time in sixth year when we were sneaking down to the kitchens to plot our next prank when we caught our flawless Lilyflower up against the corridor wall, acting not so flawless?"

Remus's eyes widened in recognition and he nodded. James frowned, "I hate to say it rings a bell. I've probably blocked it from my memory because it was so horrible to see."

Sirius took that as a yes, "My dear flower, let me tell you and everyone else in the room the story of your less then prefect-like acts."

"Padfoot," Remus said in a warning tone, "If this is going to be the story of our time can we make it a bit more entertaining. Really, you would be the only one who wants to hear about Lily's make-out sessions." Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement and Sirius stuck his tongue out at them all. Remus had trouble stopping himself from smacking his friend in the head. "Shall we expand the plot line to say, the time when James and Lily attacked each other's significant others?"

"Ooh, that sounds juicy," Tonks leaned forward, "I want to hear this."

"I'm not sure I do," James said warily while Lily just closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to send herself to her happy place.

"Nor do I, James," McGonagall admitted, "But I doubt we have a choice."

"Sure don't." Sirius grinned. "You may have the honours, Moony."

"Thank you, Sirius. I should start by saying that this was really the time where it became blatantly obvious to the rest of the school how perfect Lily and Prongs were for each other," Remus smirked.

"Not that everyone didn't know it before," Sirius added, "It just became even more clear."

Lily had opened her eyes, her attention captured by the opening line and now she and James were frowning, not understanding what their friends were talking about or where they were going with it. Nikki was shaking her head slowly, a smile on her face. She knew what Remus and Sirius were thinking of and she knew she was going to enjoy this particular tale.

"It all began when our darling Lilyflower here, decided that she was sick of being a beautiful bookworm who was single and lonely and decided she needed a boyfriend." Sirius said grandly, "So she started with a huge prick of the name Collin Malloy."

Recognition flashed across Lily's face and she gasped, "That's what you're talking about? Can you not? Please?" Nikki, Sirius and Remus just smiled at her and she sighed in resignation, knowing she had no chance, "Fine. But in my defence, I didn't go out with Collin because I was lonely. He asked me and I was sick of James continuously asking me out so I agreed to Collin. He was charming and good-looking and the more time I spent with him the more I grew to genuinely like him."

James had been viscously shaking his head at Sirius from the moment Collin's name had been mentioned, obviously trying to convey some sort of message. But when Lily admitted to liking Collin he turned to her. "Liked him? He was a cad! A pompous, arrogant, immature little jerk!"

"So it should be no surprise that she liked him," Nikki laughed, "He was a Ravenclaw version of you."

"Exactly! A Ravenclaw!" James shuddered dramatically.

Lily punched him on the arm while everyone else laughed. When she opened her mouth to disagree with James's opinion, McGonagall said over the top of her, "Should Remus and Sirius continue with their story? I know you two better then you may think," she threw a stern look at Lily and James but the slight smile on her face made it less worrying, "And I know that if you are not interrupted by something important or stopped before you can even start, this argument will never end. Therefore, I hope your friends have greater sense then to sit back and watch you both fight."

Lily and James hung their heads a little, but their picture of shame was ruined by the large smiles on their faces. Sirius groaned, "Minnie! Sometimes it is really amusing to watch them fight! They say all sorts of stupid things in the heat of the moment and it is particularly funny when they realise what they said. Besides, everyone knows that makeup sex is the best kind." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively in their direction.

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and Sirius was instantly contrite, "Sorry, Minnie. You're so cool I sometimes forget you are a teacher." He even fluttered his eyelashes at her to exaggerate his attempt.

The rest of the room burst out laughing at his effort to suck up. Tonks even reached over to high-five him as she giggled. McGonagall's mouth twitched up into a smile but it didn't last very long. "Sirius, don't even try. You've been on my bad side from the moment you called my glasses nerdy on your first day at Hogwarts. You're so far on my bad side you can't even see the good side anymore."

The group shook with laughter and Sirius pouted at his favourite professor. "Minnie made a joke!" Nikki laughed, wiping tears from her eyes, "I'm so proud!"

Once the room had quietened down, Tonks said, "What happened to the story? We didn't get very far."

"Right!" Remus said, "So, James was not very happy that Lil had gotten a boyfriend and particularly upset that it was Collin Malloy. You see, Prongs and Collin had a bit of a competition going all through school. They were both top of their classes, both Chasers on the house Quidditch teams…basically, as Nikki said, Collin was a Ravenclaw version of James."

"But Collin had beaten James in one thing," Sirius said, "The race for Lily's heart."

"Oh my God, Sirius," Nikki roared with laughter, "That is possibly the worst line I have ever heard you say, and you've had some pretty bad ones."

Remus wrinkled his nose, "This is why I wanted to tell the story, Padfoot. Stop talking and let me tell it." When Sirius tried to protest, Remus said, "You've told almost all the stories tonight! Let me tell just one."

"Fine," Sirius muttered, "but I get to tell the next one!"

"Sure," Remus shrugged, a mysterious smile on his face but he continued with the story before anyone could ask about it. "As Sirius said, Collin had gotten Lily and James was not very happy about that. Naturally, he wanted revenge. Unfortunately, this was still during James's prankster years so that was the thing he turned to. And he went straight for the one thing Collin prided himself on most of all." Remus smirked at his friend who was glaring at him with hatred.

The rest of the room turned to look at James, who didn't move his eyes from Remus until Lily spoke.

"What did you do to him?" She whispered it menacingly making James, who, even though he was a great deal bigger and stronger then her, cower in his seat.

"Well, I—um…I may have..." he trailed off, unable to get the words out.

"James." Lily growled, "What did you do to Collin?"

He ducked his head, shielding it with his hands and then blurted out in a rush, "I might have shaved something into the back of his head but charmed it so he couldn't see."

"That was_ you?_" she screeched and James jumped up from the couch to avoid her hands making contact with his head. She stood up also and chased him around the room, trying to take some of her anger out on him. James, running very fast in order to avoid his vengeful wife, knocked over a lamp and bumping the table so hard a plate fell and smashed on the floor. The rest of the group watched in wonder as Lily flinched at the items that fell victim to James's clumsiness but didn't rant about it, only ignoring them and continuing to chase after her husband. Fortunately for James, his longer legs gave him an advantage and he managed to out run her for the most part.

As they circled the couch, Sirius spoke up. "Honestly Lils, who did you think did it?"

She didn't break her menacing gaze of James as she answered, "Well, I thought it was you to be honest, Sirius."

Nikki gave a small giggle, "That's what I thought too!" When Sirius gave her an unhappy look she shrugged, "What? It was something you would do."

"True," he admitted, "But I told you I didn't do it, Lily. The day you found out about it, you cornered me and tried to beat me up. Even though you were torturing me super hard, I never did give it away."

Lily gave a great sigh as if it physically pained her to turn away from her target. James breathed an obvious sigh of relief when she moved from him and sank back down into her seat.

"There were lots of things wrong with what you just said, Sirius." Lily said, "First, that I tried to beat you up, which is just a total lie. Second, that I was torturing you. I was only yelling and _threatening _you. There is a difference. One involves the person feeling actual pain at the hand of the other and threatening is when—"

"Don't care!" Sirius cut in and she huffed but continued.

"And then there was the fact that you said I was torturing you 'super hard'." She shook her head, "You can't torture people super hard, Sirius. There aren't different levels of torture. That's the whole point. It's all so bad that it is _torture._" She smirked slightly, happy with her explanation, but evidently it wasn't simple enough for Sirius who was frowning at her. She tried to explain it again, a bit slower this time but when it still hadn't been unravelled in his head, she sighed and said, "Forget it. Why do I even waste my time?"

"Because you love me!" Sirius smiled, immediately perking up once she had finished boring him.

"Lily?" James tentatively asked, "May I please sit down now?"

She smiled at him angelically, which made him very suspicious, "Of course you may, honey."

He frowned at her, "Let me rephrase that. May I please sit down, knowing that you won't try to attack me once I get even close to your hitting range?"

"Oh, that's what you meant. No."

McGonagall sighed, "Lily, let him sit down. Violence is never the answer."

Lily gasped, "Minerva, I have never in my life thought that violence was the answer to anything." She glared at Sirius when he snorted loudly, "I have however, always been a strong believer that it is a fantastic outlet for anger."

McGonagall glared at her, "Let James sit, Miss Evans."

"Ooooh," Nikki and Sirius both teased.

Remus chuckled lightly, "Pulling out the old school name. You know you're in trouble now, Lily."

Lily threw mental daggers at her friends but grumbled, "Fine." Then she moved over slightly so she could sit on the opposite end of the couch to James.

"Thanks for helping me out there, Minnie," he smiled at her, getting himself comfortable. She rolled her eyes but nodded back, wondering why he got himself into situations where he needed her help in the first place.

There was a long pause, most people watching Lily and James, still on edge that Lily will re-boost her anger and go flying at her husband in rage.

She didn't though, and everything was still.

Then Lily opened her mouth and everyone tensed. She surprised them all by whispering, "Why did you even do it, James? What was the point?"

He thought about it for a moment, "I don't really know." When she turned around to face him, clearly annoyed at his pathetic answer he hurried to continue, "I was young and stupid okay? The only reason I can think of was that I was jealous. Most of the time that was the only reason I had for torturing any of your boyfriends. I was angry that they got you and I didn't. And I also cared about you that much that I couldn't stand the sight of you with another guy. It made me sick."

She opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand, "I shouldn't have acted out on my feelings. Not just with Collin but with every guy you ever went out with. It was stupid and immature but I guess I wanted to release my anger with them in some way, so harmless pranks always seemed to be the best option." He shook his head. "Honestly Lil, that's really all it was."

Her face softened and Nikki and Tonks sighed. "James," Lily said, "Do you want me to be completely honest?"

He nodded slowly, as if afraid of what he was agreeing to. She smiled, moving from her corner of the couch to sit next to him, taking his hand. "If you had explained all that to me instead of attacking Collin, I probably would have given in."

He gaped at her for a minute, struggling to get words together. "You – you mean…if I had just said all that to you in sixth year, you would have gone out with me?"

She grinned and nodded. He threw his hand up in the air in frustration, "You tell me all these things now! I could have saved so much energy!"

"Imagine, Prongs." Sirius smiled cheekily, "If you had taken your shirt off _and _said all that to her. She probably would have married you right then and there."

James groaned, mourning all that time and effort he spent making up elaborate plans and sucking up to her when he could have just been honest. "Thanks for that, Padfoot."

"No worries mate." Sirius laughed, thoroughly enjoying his friend's misery, "It's what I'm here for."

"I must say I'm very curious to hear what James put on the back of Collin's head." Tonks admitted.

"Yes, James," Lily turned to her husband with a threatening tone in her voice, "Tell everyone what you tattooed into my boyfriend's head."

He frowned at her, "First of all, I didn't _tattoo _it in, it was just shaved. It said 'My mummy is the only woman I want'."

Nikki and Tonks giggled loudly while Sirius and Remus grinned. Lily and McGonagall both glared at James who stared back defiantly.

"James! That was you? The poor boy got teased for a long time after that." McGonagall snapped at him.

"It could have been so much worse!" James shouted indignantly, "I was being merciful, which was really surprising considering I was beyond angry at the time. I very nearly wrote some of the horrible things Sirius suggested."

"Why were you so mad?" Nikki asked, knowing there was no point in asking what Sirius suggested. She was his girlfriend, after all.

James shook his head, refusing to answer, so Remus said, "The night James pranked Collin was the night the four of us found him and Lily well, _flaunting _their relationship in a deserted corridor. James didn't handle seeing that too well."

Sirius chuckled, "I thought he was going to kill him. Well, kill him or vomit. He did look rather sick."

"Yeah, well I didn't handle seeing Lily with someone else very well." James muttered his defence into his hands, still refusing to show his face.

Nikki surprised everyone by snorting, "Well, Lily didn't take seeing you with someone else very well either."

Lily glared at her friend, "Nikki, please, don't do this to me."

"Sorry, Lil, you heard about what James did, now he's got to hear about what you did." Nikki shrugged before turning to Remus and Sirius. "James started going out with that skank from Hufflepuff about this time didn't he? What was her name?"

"Tiara." Lily muttered unhappily.

Nikki grimaced, "That's right. What kind of name is Tiara? Anyway, even though she was going out with Collin and pretending that she was really happy with him and all that crap, when Lily saw that James had gotten a new flame too, she was not a happy camper. Tiara was basically Lily's nightmare—a tall, leggy, gorgeous blonde with just enough brain cells to cover the fingernail of my pinky finger. So she did exactly what James did. She pranked her."

There was silence as James and Lily switched poses. James's head shot up at the mention that Lily had pranked Tiara and Lily groaned in embarrassment, dropping her head into her hands and hiding her face. Sirius and Remus were grinning again, thoroughly enjoying the way their story had turned out.

"What did she do?" Tonks whispered, enjoying everyone's reactions almost as much as Remus and Sirius were.

Nikki laughed, "She was so jealous she put hot pink and neon green streaks in the poor girl's hair. They clashed so horribly it was blinding. Tiara was so horrified she dropped out of school for the rest of the semester to get it fixed. It was brilliant."

"_What?_" James yelled over the roaring laughter of the room.

Lily lifted her face slightly to look at James. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment and shame when she spoke. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, James. Honestly, I was hoping that it would never come up. I mean, we got this far without thinking about it, right?" When he just stared at her expressionlessly she sighed, "I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. But I was young and jealous and trying to deny my feelings for you and I got carried away. I should have been honest from the beginning and I'm sorry you had to find out now."

James shook his head with a short laugh, "Lil, you don't understand. I always knew it was you."

"_What?_" Lily shouted.

"I always knew it was you." James repeated, laughing openly now, "Everyone knew how much you hated her, even before she started dating me so I just assumed she did something horrible to you and you retaliated. Besides, you were the only witch in the grade who was talented enough to do streaks like the ones she had."

Lily suppressed a smile and Nikki leaned over to whisper in James's ear, "Way to go Jamie, soften her up with compliments."

He rolled his eyes at her as Lily said, "So what were you so shocked about then?"

Smiling, he said, "I only just then found out that the reason you dyed her hair was because you were jealous. You even admitted it yourself that you were jealous and was trying to deny that you had feelings for me." He sighed sadly, "So much time wasted."

"You are both so stupid!" Tonks said, throwing her hands in the air in frustration, "How much clearer could it be? You were always fighting, finding any excuses to yell at each other, always in competition…and then when both of you start having a relationship you both try to sabotage each other's love lives. All that just adds to a huge neon sign that says 'I LOVE YOU! LET'S GET MARRIED AND HAVE A FAMOUS SUPERHERO BABY!'"

Laughing, Remus said, "That's exactly how it was but both of them were to thick-headed to see what was right in front of them. You think its frustrating just hearing about the stories. You have no idea what it was like going through all those years at Hogwarts with them." He shuddered, "Excruciating."

"We weren't that bad!" Lily snapped, slightly irritated from all the teasing.

"Yes you were!" Remus, Nikki, Sirius and even McGonagall said in unison.

"You were very slow on the uptake." McGonagall said, "Even us teachers were waiting for you to get your act together. Professor Slughorn and I had a bet going from the end of your sixth year when you still weren't together. Horace thought that you would be out of school and realise what you were missing before you actually picked up a relationship. I suspected you would figure it out before the end of your seventh year."

She looked around with a smug smile on her face to see everyone staring at her with various expressions of shock on their face. "What? I will have you know I do know how to have fun. I rarely take risks, I'll be the first to admit, but this was a particular bet I was willing to make. I was quite confident. And I had the right to be. I won, didn't I?"

There was silence for a few more moments before Remus, Nikki, Tonks and James broke out into applause, commending their teacher on their surprising Divination skills. Sirius was so shocked and delighted that he jumped out of his chair to dance around McGonagall shouting, "Minnie is my king! Minnie is my king! She always brings the money in, Minnie is my king!"

Above the laughter of the room, McGonagall said, "Actually, Sirius we didn't bet money."

"What did you bet then?" He had to know.

"I will never tell," she smiled proudly, "I will just say that it required rotten eggs, underwear and extreme embarrassment for poor Horace."

Sirius gaped at her for a second before once again shouting at the top of his lungs, "Minnie is my king! Minnie is my king! Her tricks get Horace suffering, Minnie is my king!"

After a few minutes, Sirius grew tired from singing so loudly and dizzy from running around Minnie's chair. As he collapsed back on the couch, breathless, James leant forward to pat McGonagall on the back. "Thanks for having faith in me that I could bring her around before we finished school, Minnie. It means a lot to me."

"Oh well, that's good, James but I didn't bet that you would bring her around. I bet that Lily would come to her senses realise that she had been in love with you all along by the end of school." McGonagall corrected, failing to hide her small smirk.

Lily stared at her in shock, "Minerva! You—you thought that I…you knew I was—you—"

"Are totally awesome!" Tonks finished for her friend, getting up to hug her old teacher.

"Thank you, Nymphadora," McGonagall laughed. "I'm sorry, Lily but everyone could see how keen on you James was so we knew that it had to be you to make that last step. We were all just waiting for you to come to breakfast one day joined at the hip."

"Or the mouth." Nikki snickered before covering her mouth in surprise. "Whoa, major déjà vu…have I said that already tonight?"

Remus nodded, "When we were talking about Ron and Lavender. Hey, you never got to finish that story, Minerva. Sirius and I took over before you were done. Sorry."

McGonagall waved him off, "It's quite alright, Remus, I will just finish quickly now. Let's see, what was I up to?"

"You were saying that the only thing Ron and Lavender had in common was that they liked to snog each other senseless." Sirius supplied.

"Thank you, Black." McGonagall grimaced, "Well, as you can imagine Ron eventually grew tired of having such a pointless relationship. Lavender was rather clingy and she was particularly jealous. I heard her and Ron shouting on more then one occasion about him spending time with Hermione. She was rather paranoid he would fall for her instead."

"And she was right, wasn't she?" Lily smiled.

"Well, yes, but they didn't know that at the time, did they?" McGonagall reasoned, "It took a while for Ron and Lavender to actually break up. From what I observed, after Christmas Ron was spending less and less time with Lavender, and more time with Harry and Hermione and the library etcetera."

Sirius snorted, "The library? Must have been pretty desperate to be away from her to spend time in the library _voluntarily._"

Lily hit Sirius on the arm in annoyance but James grinned at his friend over the top of Lily's head and gave him a thumbs up. McGonagall glared at the two men before continuing as if Sirius had never interrupted. "His relationship with Lavender seemed to cost Ron his friendship with Hermione as they seemed to stop speaking to each other once he and Lavender got together. This of course meant that Harry had to be mediator between the both of them and in classes and at mealtimes, I could see he was getting sick of trying to stay on both their good sides.

"It was only after Ron was almost poisoned that he ended the relationship with Lavender. I don't know exactly how it was stopped," McGonagall said as Lily and Tonks both opened their mouths, "I was not there at the time. I believe it happened at the hospital wing when Ron was in there. All I know is that the next time I saw Lavender she was looking very sad and tired and Ron was looking…well, rather relieved."

Nikki, Tonks and Lily looked rather sad for Lavender, pitying her heartbreak but Remus, Sirius and James grinned at Ron's relief. McGonagall rolled her eyes at their contrasting reactions. "Well, we have one more year to go, which means one more story. I have to say, I'm rather relieved. I really should be getting home. You lot really do tire me out."

"Just like old times then isn't it, Minnie?" James smiled cheekily.

"Exactly, James." McGonagall sighed, "I thought this was supposed to be heaven?"

* * *

**A/N: So? Am I forgiven? I do hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year! Hopefully I should have the next chapter up relatively soon into the new year. I'm excited to write it - seventh year! Wooo!**

**You know I love reviews :) and it gives me incentive to update that much faster so click that button and give as many suggestions for the next chapter as you would like. The more the better! Perhaps I will write two chapters for the one year...**


	8. The Power of Words

**DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns the original. I just mess around with it :)**

* * *

Silence.

McGonagall sat there, in her seat that she hadn't moved from in over three hours, thinking hard. Everyone else sat around her, in their various states of anticipation, waiting for her to decide on what story she was going to tell next. It was Harry's seventh year, Harry's last year at Hogwarts, Harry's year spent travelling the country, searching for the key to defeating Voldemort.

Any story that she decided on telling would be full of drama, suspense and adventure. Unfortunately, there were a lot of stories to choose from.

The first person to crack, predictably, was Sirius. "Minnie!" he moaned, "Just pick a story already! I'm dying here!"

"Be quiet, Black." She snapped, speaking the sentence that she so often uttered when this particular person was in her class at Hogwarts. "You want to hear a good story so I will have to think of one. There are a lot of options, so you will have to sit patiently until I choose one."

"There can't be _that _many!" he whined, "I mean, Harry was away for most of the year, right? No one, including you, knew where he was so there shouldn't be that many events that took place with him that you were present for."

Shock flittered across her face for a moment before she regained her control, "You surprise me with your intuition, Black. For once, you're right. There weren't many times I saw Harry face to face that year. The one thing you are wrong about, however, was that even though I only saw him for a brief time, most of that was during the Battle at Hogwarts, and there is a great list of things I could recount to you about that dreadful battle." She smiled slightly, "I have one story that I know you would love to hear, but I think I will go for another, slightly more entertaining one."

"Ooh, what's it about?" Tonks asked immediately, her endless curiosity piqued, "is it from the Battle? I was there you know, I could tell you some stories about that. Or is about Harry's travels and his search for the Horcruxes?"

McGonagall looked at her in shock, "How did you know about the Horcruxes?"

"Please, Minnie." James sighed, "You're forgetting that a very important person paid us a visit many years ago, even before Harry went on his quest for Voldy's little lost bits of himself. Dumbledore told us the whole story and we then told Remus and Tonks when they too graced us with their presence." He gestured his long arm to them and Remus grinned, giving him a small bow.

"How did you find out about the Horcruxes?" Lily asked, "You didn't know anything about what Harry was doing during that year, did you?"

McGonagall gave Lily a disappointed look, "Just because I didn't know about his ridiculously dangerous plan at the time doesn't mean that I don't know about it now, Lily. He, Ron and Hermione gave me all the details of their journey and the task Dumbledore had given them shortly after the Battle—no! That is not the story I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell you the story of Ginny, Neville and Luna and their actions while they served their time at Hogwarts that year."

"Served their time?" Nikki scoffed, "You make it sound like Hogwarts was a prison!"

"At the time, it almost was, Miss Willerson." McGonagall said gravely.

"Dun, dun, _dun._" Sirius sang dramatically, unable to resist the tense moment. When he noticed everyone staring at him with looks that varied from amusement to annoyance he shrugged innocently. "What?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes, a clear sign that she was reaching the end of her tether and said, "I wasn't looking forward to the beginning of that school year for a number of reasons. First, Severus Snape was made headmaster which automatically meant that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were in control of Hogwarts. Mind you, this was just after Severus killed Albus, so I was in the right mind to really not trust him. I sincerely believe he was working for Voldemort and had been all along. I didn't find out the truth until the end of that year, during the Battle at Hogwarts, and from Harry. But that is another story." She smiled at their obvious need to interrupt but they seemed satisfied with her vague excuse.

"Second, due to Voldemort's new found power over the school, two Death Eaters, the Carrows—" she was interrupted by groans coming from everyone in the room. It seemed that everyone who was in her presence had faced or fought those two people. That knowledge gave her mixed feelings. She didn't like the thought of any of the people sitting with her, even Sirius, fighting Death Eaters, let alone such cruel and violent ones. But she was also slightly relieved that she didn't have to waste time explaining to them how horrible the Carrows could be. Then she remembered something they didn't know. "Yes, Amycus and Alecto became part of the Hogwarts staff, much to the fear of all the other Professors."

"What did they teach? How much knowledge could those two trolls possibly have?" James asked, oddly without a hint of humour in his voice.

McGonagall gave him a look, but it wasn't as harsh as it would have been if she had disagreed with him. "Alecto taught Muggle Studies—"

Lily winced noticeably, a little whimper of pain falling out of her mouth. When everyone looked at her, with various expressions of pity she tried to appear nonchalant. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. What bothers me is I can just picture what that horrible person would teach as Muggle Studies—that Muggles are

dirty and not considered humans. Just being there and that being forced into those children's heads," she shuddered, "It's almost unbearable to think about."

James wrapped his arm around her shoulders as McGonagall said, "You're right about what she taught, Lily. She was trying to brainwash the children into despising Muggles and even magical people with Muggle blood. As I'm sure you've already assumed, the children that happened to be Muggle-borns in her class had a horrible time. She would pick on them and send them to detention for very little reason. And detention really was the worst place to be."

Sirius snorted, "No way! Detention wasn't that bad. You just had to do some weird jobs, boring tasks, a bit of manual labour sometimes. Most of the time no harm came from it except extreme boredom, when the teacher was supervising, at least."

Tonks glared at him, not appreciating the distraction. She was finding it very hard to hear all the bad things that were happening at Hogwarts while she was alive. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn't help feeling guilty that she didn't do anything to help the kids in their horrible school conditions. "Sirius, for the love of Merlin shut up! Your smart comments aren't needed at the moment. Minnie is telling us a very serious story and your inputs aren't really necessary."

"Jeeze, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood."

"What Tonks is trying to say," Nikki said, speaking up suddenly after a long while of silence. "is that this isn't the right time for your little jokes, Siri. Remember we talked about this? There is a time and place for your humour."

"Oh," Sirius nodded his head in understanding, "Like how I shouldn't joke about James's old owl Pokey because he gets really touchy about it."

Nikki nodded in approval at the same time that James sighed.

"Pokey! She was such a good owl…" he dropped his head in memory of her and Lily rubbed his back gently.

"Prongs, get over it!" Sirius shook his head, "You had her for _one year_ before she was eaten by Lily's devil cat."

"SIRIUS!" Remus cried and Lily gasped, giving him a look of a thousand knives. The ones with the blades that are a foot long and deadly, serrated edges.

James's head shot up and Sirius clapped his hands over his mouth. "Shit," he muttered from behind them.

"_Chino ATE Pokey_?" James shouted, rounding on Lily "_That's_ what happened to her? You told me she just got out of the cage!"

Lily's mouth opened and closed, making her look like she was impersonating a fish. Remus snickered, "I still can't believe you fell for that. It was the worst cover ever! Really Lils, for such a smart girl it wasn't a very good cover."

"Shut up, Remus!" Lily snapped, "I was fourteen, okay? I'm sorry I wasn't original enough for you but I had to think of something on the spot."

James still looked distraught, "Lily, how could you let your devil cat eat my poor owl? She was so small and helpless…"

"James, in Lily's defence she didn't know Chino had eaten your owl until I told her." Nikki said, trying not to giggle, "She wasn't there when it happened. It was just Sirius and I in the Common Room and your owl was sitting on the windowsill because you, like the stupid boy you were, let her fly around without a cage. We didn't even know Chino was in the room until we heard her hiss and Pokey made this screeching sound and we turned around to find Chino sitting where Pokey had been on the window sill with a few feathers around him—"

"NO MORE!" James shouted, covering his ears, "It hurts too much. Poor, poor Pokey."

Lily hesitantly put her hand on her husband's shoulder. "James, I'm so sorry. I was so upset when they told me, and even though I didn't really like you at the time I didn't want to tell you that my cat had eaten your beloved bird. I felt so bad."

"It's alright, Lil." James sighed, sitting up properly and giving her a small smile, "It was a long time ago. At least it was quick and not too painful for her." He gave a sniffle but squared his shoulders. "I'm okay. I'll get over it eventually."

Sirius gave a little snort and muttered, "Yeah, right."

James glared at his friend but before he could retort he was cut off by McGonagall. "Excuse me but can I finish my story?"

When everyone nodded obediently, mumbling, "Sorry Minnie." She smiled in satisfaction, not even bothering to correct their nickname for her.

"Detention at that time was the worst place for a student to be at Hogwarts. Amycus Carrow took over the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, but he changed it a little. It became just Dark Arts, a fairly self explanatory name," she admitted, noticing how everyone's expressions darkened.

"Not only did he teach the children the Dark Arts, the Carrows made them practice their dark spells and Unforgivable Curses on the children in detention."

"WHAT?" Everyone else yelled in shock.

Nikki seemed to be gasping for air, "On-on the children…how could they…that's so awful."

"The poor kids," Remus moaned, shaking his head.

Sirius were still staring at McGonagall in shock while Tonks and Lily were horrified and very upset.

James was outraged, "Minnie, how could you let them get away with all that? They were hurting the students! It would have been the rest of the staff against two of them! You definitely could have taken them on."

McGonagall shook her head, "It wasn't that easy, James. Yes, there was only the two of them doing those horrible things but it was under the orders of Snape and even worse, Voldemort. We wouldn't have stood a chance. Also, we didn't know that they were torturing the children in detention until it was too late. By the time I found out, many of the students had either left or gone into hiding."

There was a moment of confused silence before Tonks said, "Um, I'm sorry, did you say they went into _hiding?_"

"Indeed I did, Nymphadora. That leads me to the story I was planning to tell. I got a bit distracted," she gave a small smile. "Now, with all the harsh things that were going on at Hogwarts, most students just gave in and obeyed everything the Carrows and Snape said. But, a select few didn't." She smiled proudly, thinking of her brave Gryffindors and their friends.

"Awesome!" Sirius said enthusiastically, jumping up from his seat. "How did they do it? Did they go right up to those bloody Carrows and say, 'Oi, you! You're a twit and you know nothing so stop teaching us rubbish!' and then they would have punched them in the face and kicked them," he started kicking and punching the air, his face full of glee.

McGonagall was trying not to smile, "Unfortunately no, Black. The took a more effective and well, mature approach to their rebellion." Sirius huffed and sat down again but couldn't hide his desire to hear Minnie's tale.

"The main students who got together to spread rebellion, as I'm sure you would have already guessed were Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasely and Luna Lovegood." She couldn't help but smile with everyone else as they nodded and grinned proudly at the guts of Harry's friends. "They essentially restarted Dumbledore's Army. The gathered together their friends and continued with the secret group. The used the charmed coins Hermione created to communicate with everyone. They started standing up to the teachers, Neville in particular. And though they often got beaten and punished for it they would continue to do it. After the battle Neville told me he did it because he knew it gave people hope. He said he noticed it when Harry used to do it."

Everyone smiled, Lily and James particularly, hearing that Harry's courage had not only given hope to the people outside of Hogwarts but also to the students, even when they didn't need it.

Tonks shook her head, "Standing up to the Carrows, that's daring. Especially when they have _permission_ to beat you into a pulp because of it."

"Yes, it was a little stupid sometimes," McGonagall admitted, "But it was what they had to do to keep morale going. The most daring thing they did, however, was they broke into Snape's office to try and steal the Sword of Godric Gryffindor."

"They WHAT?" Everyone yelled.

"Are they _insane?_" Nikki demanded, "Breaking into the headmasters office is bad enough—"

"But to steal the Sword is…well, its suicide in that situation," Remus finished.

McGonagall nodded grimly, "It was a rather idiotic thing to do, but they had heard that Harry needed it for some reason to defeat Voldemort and they were determined to get it for him. Unfortunately, they had almost gotten out of the office before Severus caught them."

"Were they punished badly?" Lily whispered, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Shaking her head, McGonagall said, "I hate to say that I can't really tell you. I know they were put in detention, but I don't think they were tortured." She added hastily upon seeing the horrified looks on everyone's faces. "I know it was with Hagrid but I don't know what they had to do or if there were more that followed." She smiled at the relieved looks on their faces, "But the thing they did that had the biggest influence on the other students, I think, would have been their graffiti."

"Graffiti?" James asked, "They had the guts to graffiti Hogwarts when it was being run by Death Eaters? Whoa, I admire their guts."

"It was certainly brave," McGonagall agreed, "They wrote on the walls 'Dumbledore's Army Recruiting' and other things of that nature. Afterwards, they told me that it brought a lot of students to them who wanted safety from the Carrows and people who wanted to fight back."

"The power of advertising," Remus said solemnly but with a small smile ruining his seriousness.

Lily suddenly started giggling. After a few moments of trying to calm herself she managed to get out, "I'm sorry, I've just been reminded of a particularly funny story about graffiti." Then burst out laughing again.

Everyone waited patiently in confusing for a number of minutes before she took a few deep, calming breaths that seemed to help. "It happened in fifth year. The great thing about me telling it is that no one but Sirius and I know this story."

"Noooo!" Sirius moaned after a second, realising what she was talking about, "Please don't tell that story! I still have nightmares." He shuddered.

"Oh, but Sirius," Lily smirked, "why ever not?"

Sirius looked like he was at a loss for a moment before his eyes lit up and he said quickly, "Because if you do, I will leave now and never talk to you again, Lily Potter." He pointed his finger at her threateningly and her eyes widened at the shock of him actually using her full name.

Tonks, Remus, James and Nikki all noticed that as well and all said, very dramatically, "Ooooh…"

"Besides," Sirius continued, ignoring his friends, "What would you do without me?"

Lily smiled, "You paint such a rosy picture there, Siri. Shall I list all the things I could do without your annoying, immature presence? I could cook without you eating half of everything I make, I could read without you making nerd-related comments. I could clean the house, knowing you won't just come in and mess it all up again. I could—"

"It was a rhetorical question!" Sirius snapped sulkily.

"Padfoot!" Remus cried, rather randomly, "Good word! I'm very impressed."

Sirius grinned, looking awfully proud of himself before shaking his head slightly and glaring at Lily. "Yes, you could do all those boring, geeky things without me, but where's the fun? If I weren't there, there would be so many things you would miss! You would miss my genius pranks, and stunning good looks and hilarious comments and, and…" he trailed off, seeing Lily was staring at him with a very sceptical eyebrow raised. "Fine! I get it! You wouldn't miss me! I'm just going to go eat all my sad feelings away." He stood up to walk morosely into the kitchen.

"Sirius, wait!" Lily shouted, successfully smothering a laugh.

He turned around with such an exaggerated look of misery on his face—his cheeks puffed up and his lower lip sticking out so far it could almost touch the floor—that Lily had to swallow another giggle.

"No, I wouldn't miss those things," she agreed which just made him frown more and turn to leave again so she hurried to continue, "But I would you're your flippant, completely oblivious attitude to everything. I would miss our fights. I would miss you teasing James and calling me Lilyflower. I would just miss you, Sirius. You're one of my best friends. How could I not miss you?"

She smiled gently at him and he grinned widely, loping over to where she was sitting and hugging her around the shoulders. "I knew you liked me calling you Lilyflower!" he yelled victoriously, causing everyone to laugh and Lily to roll her eyes.

"Sirius!"

He chuckled, letting himself get comfortable on the armrest next to her. "I'm just kidding, Lilyflower. I know I joke a lot but I'm glad Prongs married you. 'Cause if he hadn't, I would have one less best friend."

They smiled at each other, finally without smart-arse comments or comebacks being thrown around. It was a peaceful moment, which was a rare thing in itself with this group, but between Sirius and Lily, it was a thing of beauty.

"Thank you, Sirius." Lily sighed, putting one hand over his, "But I'm still telling the story."

"Aww Lilyflower!"

"Nope, you can't change my mind. Now get off me you big lug!" She pushed him off her, practically throwing him off the couch and onto the floor.

Ignoring everyone else's laughter Sirius picked himself up and brushed the invisible dust of his sleeves. "You're mean."

She shrugged. It wasn't the first time he had told her that. It wasn't even the tenth time he had said that to her, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. So she didn't even care anymore. She turned her attention to the others in the room and the highly amusing story she was about to tell. "One of my fondest memories from Hogwarts was the week at the end of our fifth year. We had just finished our OWL's—"

"Where Lily got all Outstandings." James grinned, pulling his wife into his side proudly.

She hit his arm, blushing a little, "James, stop it. That wasn't part of the story. And I didn't get all O's. I got one Exceeds Expectations."

Sirius snorted, "Oh yes, lets all wallow in the wonder that is Lily Potter, shall we? Oh, she's so smart! She's the best at everything! La di da di da."

Lily glared at him and everyone in the room—except McGonagall who was aggravated to see them going at each other's throats again—smiled. Everything was back to normal.

"I'm sorry," Lily retorted angrily, "It's not my fault you _failed _your OWL's!"

Sirius gasped "I did not! I almost did, but that's not the same!"

"It's not my fault you've got a brain the size of a pea!" Lily snapped, ignoring his protests all together, "Oh wait, sorry, I take that back. That would be insulting to PEAS!"

Sirius, who had been beginning to look reassured before she added the last bit gaped at her in affront for a moment before yelling back at her so quickly it was hard to understand the words. Lily obviously could because she retorted just as fast and soon their sparring became one big jumble of shouted words that only the two of them could understand.

They were becoming more and more into their argument, leaning toward each other to yell and point in annoyance. James was holding Lily by the waist so she didn't jump up and attack Sirius and Remus had grabbed one of Sirius's so he didn't start pulling her hair like they were children. Nikki even got up crouch in the middle of them, holding her hands out on either side of them like she was trying to stop traffic. But she only ended up getting hit on the side of the head by one of Lily's enthusiastic arm movements and decided that stopping them when they were that worked up wasn't worth all the bodily harm.

"QUIET!" McGonagall yelled after a good five minutes of listening to them shout at each other. "I've had enough of this insolence. I would fully expect this from the two of you if you were first year at Hogwarts but not now. You're ma—fully grown adults so start behaving like it!" When she noticed the questioning looks on Remus and Tonks's faces she smiled slightly, "I was going to say mature but that clearly wasn't the right word to use, considering the situation. Now, you two need some time apart to think about acting in the proper manner. Seeing as Lily needs to tell the story and Sirius doesn't want to hear the story, Lily should stay here while Black, you go out in the kitchen and wait until—"

"No!" Sirius jumped up in indignation, "I'm staying! I've been here all night, and I will stay until the end."

McGonagall sighed like it gave her physical pain to agree, "Fine, but you are to sit in the corner over there, and Lily, you come sit next to me."

Lily and Sirius both stood up grudgingly, knowing not to push Minnie when the vein above her right eye was so big. It was a bad sign.

"Teacher's pet," Sirius muttered to Lily as they passed one another.

She stopped and stared at his hair in shock for a moment before pointing at it and gasping, "Sirius…is that a grey hair?"

"WHAT? WHERE?" he shrieked, running for the mirror by the door to examine his head thoroughly.

Lily snickered, taking her seat on the floor next to McGonagall. Everyone waited for a moment before Sirius trudged over to his designated corner, the furthest place in the room from the rest of the group and folded himself into the corner. "You're mean," he muttered to Lily, who just rolled her eyes. Twice in one night.

McGonagall gave Lily a loaded look that made her realise what she was supposed to be doing. "Oh right! The story, oops. Okay, so it was just after all our last exams and we were enjoying our free time. It was a Friday morning and I was sitting in the Common Room, looking through a Muggle history book, you know the ones with the information and the photos?"

Everyone nodded their heads but both Sirius and James moaned, for different reasons. Sirius was annoyed because the embarrassing part of the story was coming up, but James's reason was different.

"Those books are so boring! The pictures don't even move! I'll never know how you can look at them for so long and don't just drop dead of boredom."

Lily glared at him, "I still have the book upstairs, _honey,_ and it's rather big so I suggest you shut your mouth or I will go up there and get it so I can hit you over the head with it!"

James sank down into his seat with fear. "No more insulting the book. Got it."

"Good. Anyway, I was looking at the pictures when bloody Black," she sent that particular person a death stare, before continuing merrily, "Black comes prancing over, whining about how he was bored just by looking at me and that I should find a better way to spend my time."

"Prancing? Whining?" Sirius cried from his corner, appalled. "You make me sound like a girl! If you insist on telling this stupid story at least give me a better entrance. Say I strutted in, my famous hair shining in the light of the fire…" he then noticed everyone's raised eyebrows and realised what he had just said. "I'll shut up now."

"Anyway…" Lily dragged out the word, rolling her eyes at Sirius, "Without even thinking about what I wanted to do, which was just sit by the fire and read, this git just threw my book across the room, grabbed me and pulled me out of the Common Room, claiming that we were about to have the time of our lives. He was partly right," She grinned, sending him an evil look.

"I was wrong!" He sulked, "It was a bad, bad idea that I should have seen coming. If I had stopped to think about how it would affect me considering my good looks and popularity—"

"That's just the problem with you," Remus put in, smirking, "You don't think, Padfoot. You just do what you want without thinking of the consequences. May I ask," he turned to Lily curiously, "is this the time that James and I completely missed out on seeing because Prongs landed me in detention with him, and all we could do was visit Sirius in the Hospital Wing?"

Lily nodded, grinning, and Remus laughed, "Excellent! I've been waiting years to hear this story since Sirius refuses to tell us what happened."

"For good reason!" Sirius yelled, "I was traumatized!"

James's face suddenly lit up, "Are we talking about the story that Sirius wouldn't tell us and Lily couldn't because she had been sworn to secrecy? I've been _dying _to hear this!"

"Oh yay!" Nikki clapped her hands, "I know what we're talking about now! I haven't heard it either!"

"Well I have no idea what everyone's so excited about!" Tonks pouted, "I wasn't there so I don't know anything about this."

"I don't either," McGonagall reminded her, "Although that is the point of Lily telling us the story."

Tonks rolled her eyes as Remus put his arm around her, "Don't get upset, Dora. We have no idea what's going to happen because neither of them would tell us at the time. So none of us are in the loop except those two loons."

"Hey!" Lily and Sirius protested.

"If you keep insulting me, Lupin, I won't tell the story and you will never know what happened to Sirius on that fateful night." Lily said threateningly.

Sirius shot up and ran over to his friend, "Keep insulting her, Moony! Do it!"

"Sorry, Sirius," Remus shook his head, pushing him away, "The damage has been done. I need to hear this story."

Pouting, Sirius wandered back over to his spot in the corner, folding himself back on to the floor.

Lily watched in satisfaction before starting up again, "So Sirius pulls me out into the middle of a deserted corridor and tells me that we were going to have a lot of fun. Then he proceeds to pull a giant magic quill out of his pocket."

Nikki frowned, "A giant, magic quill…"

Lily waved her off, "That's not really the point. So Sirius used this giant quill to write on the wall of the hallway in huge black letters. He wrote 'For one day only…shat did you write again?" She turned to Sirius with a teasing face.

He grumbled something under his breath, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Lily asked sweetly.

Sirius sighed, "I said ."

"I didn't hear you," she said, holding her hand to her ear, "You'll have to speak up."

"Fine!" he yelled, giving up, "I wrote on the corridor wall in huge black letters that 'for one day only anyone can randomly hug Sirius Black', okay? It was stupid and seemed like fun."

"You wrote that?" James shouted, "I assumed that's why you were in the Hospital Wing but I thought someone else had written it as a prank or to hurt you." He shook his head, "I didn't think you were that stupid."

"I did," Remus grinned, "But I was hoping for the less embarrassing option."

Tonks laughed with everyone else, except McGonagall who wasn't looking very happy. "That was stupid but it would have been fun, wouldn't it? You would've had hundreds of girls hugging you."

"That was why it was not fun," Sirius told her darkly.

When she looked confused, Lily tried to explain through her giggles, "The thing was, Sirius thought that because so many girls thought he was the hottest thing on earth since fire he would have girls hanging all over him all day. Which is what happened. But what he didn't realise was that because there were so many girls wanting to hug him, he ended up being smothered by them. They were jumping on him and tackling him and grabbing him by his arms so much that he actually was seriously injured." Her serious tone was ruined by her laughter as she doubled over.

Sirius was looking particularly horrified, reliving it all. "I had no idea," he whispered, "It was like a tsunami. About ten minutes after writing it up, I was walking to the Great Hall and this stampeded of girls came running at me. I had no where to hide. They all jumped on me and I was dragged beneath them and I couldn't breathe and…" he started clutching at his chest dramatically.

Everyone looked at him sympathetically for a moment before deciding that Lily's story was a lot more amusing.

"Did I hear you say something about tackling?" Nikki asked her friend, a wicked grin on her face.

Lily nodded, "That was a particularly amusing one. We were walking back from lunch in the Great Hall towards the Common Room and Sirius was walking behind me, using me as a shield. But really, he should have been watching his back," she grinned evilly, "because we both heard shrieks from behind us and Sirius turned around to see this group of about 5 girls running towards us. I managed to jump out of the way right before the girl in the lead gave a running jump and grabbed Sirius's legs, tackling him to the ground." She laughed loudly, "Oh Merlin it was funny. You should have seen his face as he fell. And he gave a particularly girly shriek before he went face first into the ground."

Nikki and Tonks were laughing behind their hands while James and Remus weren't bothering to hide it, laughing loudly and raucously, clutching at their stomachs. Even McGonagall was smiling.

Sirius was a complete contrast to the group, sitting in his corner with his arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He sulked, "It was horrifying! And that particular tackle gave me a lot of injuries. I broke my nose," he whimpered, holding his hand to his face. "And you," he turned on Lily accusingly, "You just stood their laughing your pretty little ass off, not helping me at all."

"That's not true!" She disagreed, "I was helping, I just wasn't helping you! I was helping the other girls jump on top of you."

"That's my girl." James said proudly while Sirius pouted at her.

"What about me?" he moaned, "Aren't I your friend? Why would you help a bunch of random girls cause bodily harm to your friend rather then protect them?"

Lily sighed, "Sirius, I knew they weren't going to hurt you that much. They were second years for Merlin's sake! How much damage could they possibly do?"

"They broke my nose!" he yelled angrily, "and gave me a black eye! AND I had bruises all over my body for days afterwards! Not to mention the mental injury they caused me! I'm still not over it and it has been almost a century! Ever since, it's like I haven't been able to think properly."

"Yeah…I don't think they affected your power to think, Padfoot," James chuckled, "You were like that before."

Sirius glared at him and then everyone else when they started laughing. He turned to McGonagall with an exaggerated sad face, "Minniiiieee! They're being mean to me. Can you ask them to stop?" When McGonagall shook her head, trying not to roll her eyes at him he frowned, before perking up quickly. "I know how you can make me feel better! Tell another story! One that's a bit happier or one that doesn't make Lily think of another traumatising story for me."

"Black," McGonagall snapped, "I'm not telling another story. I've finished my quota for tonight. I've reached the last of Harry's years and you have kept me here long enough."

"Um, Minnie?" James said warily, "I…well, the story you just told, while a very good one, it wasn't about _Harry_ in particular and those are the kind of stories that we want to hear. So could you—"

"Are you saying you didn't like my story, Potter?" McGonagall glared at him, making him sink into his seat in fear.

"N-no ma'am." He insisted hurriedly, "Just saying that we would all love you to stay for just one story. Ooh! Maybe one about the Battle? Or how Harry showed his plan. Maybe your view on how Harry defeated Volde—"

He was cut off when McGonagall held up her hand, "As much as I hate to admit it, there is one story about the Battle and Harry that I know you would love to hear. It's not very funny and it will be very hard for you to hear, but I wouldn't mind telling it to you." She grimaced slightly, annoyed at herself for actually enjoying telling these stories. All she really wanted to do was go home and to bed.

Her irritation was slightly mollified by the happy grins everyone was giving her, knowing that there was a very exciting, important story coming up.

"Well? What are you waiting for, Minnie?" Sirius demanded anxiously, "Tell us!"

McGonagall sighed, and began.

* * *

**A/N: So...clearly I'm doing another chapter :) I thought the last year was too important to just skim over with one random chapter. And after all, this story wasn't even about Harry at all. I hope everyone had a great New Year and enjoying their New Year so far. Mine's certainly been...interesting.  
But enough about me, tell me about you! I want to hear about your New Years Eve/Day - if you have any crazy stories, that sort of thing :) Oh, and try to guess what the next chapters going to be about. You've already got a couple of hints: Its about the Battle, and involves Harry. Doesn't narrow it down, I know, but that's all your getting. So try and guess! Prizes for the winner!**

**By the way, the next chapter is the last chapter, as I'm sure you've all assumed. And my last fanfic for a while...so I will try and make it the best chappy possible!**


	9. The Final Showdown

**This is it! the last chapter :( I will save all the sappiness for the bottom. This is a long chapter, so get ready! Also, for a bit of fun, the Point of Views change every so often so be aware.**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own Above, not Harry Potter.**

* * *

**LILY:**

Minerva shifted in her seat almost nervously. That was a first. I had never in my entire lifetime seen Minerva McGonagall nervous. Not for herself or for others. And that is quite an achievement considering she was often in the presence of Sirius Black.

So that fact that she was nervous made me very nervous. And anxious, scared, excited, wary, terrified and a whole bunch of other adjectives. This was her last story for the night. The last solid tale about my son that we were going to get from her for at least a little while. I knew it would be a good one. I knew it would be full of excitement and adventure and that it would make me so proud of my amazing boy. But she also had said that it wouldn't be very funny, and hard to listen to—and that was never a good sign.

James shifted next to me, "I can practically hear the wheels spinning in your head. There's no need to worry. Please calm down, you're starting to freak me out to."

I was too wound up now to even marvel at how well he knew me. So I just sent him a strong glare, and because my husband is a very smart man, he didn't push me.

Before I could freak out anymore, Minerva started speaking. "I don't really know where to start for this story. It's not a particularly happy one, as I have mentioned and I'm not sure if you will even be able to hear some of the things I will recall. Especially you two," she turned her attention to James and I, "Harry, as you would know, is a very brave person, and he tries to sacrifice himself more then once in this story, so brace yourselves."

I swallowed heavily, trying not to freak out before she had even started, "This particular story takes place during the Battle at Hogwarts," she continued, "which lasted a very long time and there was never really any proper beginning, which makes it very hard to decide where to start speaking from."

"As long as there's an end." Sirius said boldly, "As long as there's a resolution, as long as there's light at the end of the tunnel, a conclusion to the exciting tale, a final—EEEEK!" He cut himself off with a loud, screeching sound. Nikki had reached the end of her patience and grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling harshly.

"SIRIUS BLACK! You shut up right now! I am _way _too agitated to sit here, listening to your silly antics. And it's not just me. Can't you see Lily?" I blinked as she and Sirius both looked at me, "Doesn't she look like she's about to just projectile vomit everywhere?" _Oh, thanks Nik. You're the best friend ever. _  
"So you better shut that pretty little mouth of yours so we can all hear the story and then relax."

"You think my mouth is pretty?" Sirius smirked.

Nikki just tightened her grip on his hair and he squeaked again. "_Sirius! _Be quiet or I swear on all that is holy I will jinx all your _good-lookingness—_" she used her free hand to gesture to his long hair, "—right off your head. You know I will."

"Okay, okay. I'm shutting up. Jeez, so bossy. OW!"

After a final tug, she let his clump of hair go, a smug look on her face. Ignoring the way her boyfriend was rubbing his head and glaring daggers at her, she smiled at Minerva. "Please continue, Minerva."

"Thank you, Nikki," Minerva gave a small smile, "You saved me the effort of getting up and getting Black to be quiet myself."

"Anytime!" Nikki said brightly, a complete contrast to the threatening demure she had been showing before. I think I saw Sirius winced slightly.

"As I was saying, it is hard to know where to start telling the story from but I think I will begin in the evening of that night. The first time I had seen Harry in months." She surveyed us quietly, her stern gaze falling on each individual as if she was trying to read their attention in the story. She stared at Sirius a little longer then necessary before saying, "I was making my rounds in the corridors, heading towards my office when I came across Amycus Carrow by the Ravenclaw Common Room. He was yelling at the portrait to his sister, who was obviously on the other side." James opened his mouth but Minerva beat him to it, "He was trying to tell her that if they hadn't caught Harry they would get in a lot of trouble. It only took me moment to realise that she had obviously contacted Voldemort to tell him that she had caught Harry and Amycus was worried that they would be punished like the Malfoys were if they were wrong—No!"

James and Sirius had opened their mouths again, obviously to ask about what happened to the Malfoys. Even I was a little curious as to what happened. I knew the Malfoys as very careful people and extremely loyal to Voldemort. It was weird for them to be wrong about something as serious as catching Harry.

"That is another story entirely," Minerva snapped, "We don't have time to get off track. Let's just say that they _had_ captured Harry but he managed to get away before Voldemort could get there and they were punished heavily."

That made sense, but it was still odd. The Malfoy's didn't strike me as people to jump the gun. I would have thought they would have made sure couldn't get away before they called Voldemort.

Nikki seemed to be on a similar thought process. "Sounds like Bellatrix to assume it was all good. Narcissa would never have acted so quickly."

I was very grateful for Bellatrix Lestrange. There was something I would _never _have thought to feel. Ever.

**NIKKI:**

I watched as James and Lily's faces contorted into a mixture of emotions. They were two of the people I knew best and I didn't have trouble reading them. I could tell they were very glad Harry got away safely, but that meant that they would be mentally thanking Bitchy Bella. And they weren't comfortable with that thought at all.

I felt sorry for them, they were always in such an emotional tangle. They were so proud of their son, I could see it in their eyes every time his name came up. And the day we discovered he had beaten Voldemort and saved the Wizarding World…I had never seen two people so full of happiness and joy and pride. It radiated off them like they were internally lit up. I remember crying with Lily so much that day. That was a side effect of being best friends with Harry Potter's parents. Their love for him sort of rubbed off on you. I felt like I had known him, and I loved him like he was family.

It sucked.

Don't get me wrong, it was amazingly cool being Lily and James's friend and being related to Harry in that way. But it just meant that every time I heard his name, _I _was proud as well as James and Sirius and Lily were. I was caught up in the emotional tangle too. Especially now, listening to Minnie's story, I was happy and sad and scared and proud and excited all at one time…and it annoyed the crap out of me. I was a simple girl—I liked feeling one emotion at a time, I had simple thoughts in my head (not dumb ones like 'what is 1 plus 2?', but not ones that required a lot of thought like 'what is the meaning of life?'. It was a happy medium). I wasn't a particularly pessimistic person like Lily or James. I liked spontaneity and fun and jokes. After all, I was dating Sirius Black.

Enough said.

But being friends with these people, watching them go through so much, even if they weren't on Earth experiencing it all first hand, it made me anxious and scared and I wanted to know how Harry was, if he and his friends were safe at all times. He needed to be happy so I could be happy.

See—sucky, right?

Minnie seemed to take advantage of our silence to continue with her story, for which I was grateful. She was very much a planner and didn't like to get off topic. It was one of the things that I loved and hated most about her: her persistence was great when you wanted to learn. Not so great if you wanted to distract her to pull a prank or something. I mean, that's what Sirius thinks, not me at all…

I decided paying attention to Minnie would be a better use of my time. "I knew that he would soon disturb the students if he didn't stop screaming at the door, and I won't deny that I wanted to know whether Harry was in the Common Room or not, as I hadn't heard anything from him for months." She was saying, "Also, Harry was a Gryffindor, a quality that he had displayed on numerous occasions over the years so I was unsure of the reason he would be in the Ravenclaw Common Room. If anything he should have been in the Gryffindor Common Room—his house, and my house."

Pride for Gryffindor and for Harry shone in her eyes as she spoke and it made me smile. With these stories, and her lack of patience when dealing with my immature boyfriend and her fierce loyalty, Minerva McGonagall was quickly rising through the ranks of my favourite people.

"So I asked him what he was doing there, causing a ruckus in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. I had learnt over the years with my dealings with Death Eaters that it was much easier to play clueless to get information. Especially with someone so genuinely clueless as Amycus Carrow. He ordered me to open the door because his sister wasn't answering." Her voice turned cold and I couldn't help but voice my thoughts.

"Oooh…someone ordering Minnie around. He's so going to get it!" Everyone grinned at me, obviously agreeing. Minnie wasn't a person who easily took orders, especially from some one of a lower ranking like a Carrow.

Minnie was looking cross, "Yes, I was not happy with his attitude—"

Tonks snorted quietly and muttered, "Figures."

I nodded and winked at her but Minnie ignored her, "—but I was intrigued as to what was going on so I let him in. When we stepped into the room we found Alecto Carrow lying on the ground. She was only stunned unfortunately." We all laughed at her obvious dislike for the Death Eater. "I instantly knew that someone was in the room with us, but I didn't know if it was Potter. To be honest I didn't want to believe he had come to Hogwarts at such a dangerous time. Although, it _was _Harry, and he didn't exactly care for such details." She smiled fondly and James grinned proudly.

Lily elbowed him in the side, "Of course, you're most proud of your son when he acts completely carelessly and with total disregard for his safety."

"I'm not _most proud_, Lil," James laughed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "just _very proud._"

Remus laughed, "Oh yes, he's a chip off the old block."

"Damn straight!" James's grin was so wide he looked like his mouth was wider then his face.

I snorted, "If he's so like James it's a wonder he managed to stay alive for so long."

"Well, he does have a little bit of Lily in him to level it out," Remus admitted while James sent me an unhappy look.

"He's the best of both of us!" James proclaimed happily.

"Oh yes, Harry is careless, yet so wonderful," Minnie said sarcastically. That really shocked me because Minnie was only sarcastic in dire situations. She must be quickly losing her patience. "Can I get on with my story now?"

Everyone had obviously noticed the same thing that I had noticed because we all shut up and she continued. "Now, I scanned the room and I couldn't see anyone but I knew someone was there. Amycus was going on and on about how much trouble they were going to be in when He came and they didn't have Potter. He said that Voldemort had told them that Harry would go the Ravenclaw Tower if he ever came to Hogwarts. I didn't think that was right, and I told him so. Harry was in my house! Why on earth would he go to the Raveclaw Tower?" her eyes glinted with anger and pride, "Then he started saying that he would blame the kids! He said that they would say the children made her summon Voldemort! He didn't care how many were killed as long as he was safe."

Anger surged inside of me and looking around the room I could tell I wasn't the only one. Minnie looked livid, her nostrils flared and eyes narrowed, "Well I wasn't going to stand for that. Suddenly I didn't care if he was a Death Eater and had more power in the corrupt school. I wasn't going to let him place the blame on innocent children, nor was I going to let them be harmed. I told him I wouldn't permit it and he didn't like that. He told me that my time of being in charge was over. Then he spat in my face."

"WHAT?" We all shouted.

Suddenly, I wished I had been there. I wanted to shout at that bloody Carrow. I wanted to curse him into the next century. No one was ever allowed to spit at Minnie. Put a Sticking Charm on her chair or dying her hair hot pink or cutting a hole at the back of her robe so that everyone could see her tartan underpants, sure…but spitting was just off limits.

Sirius thought so to. "That is NOT COOL! No one spits at my Minnie and gets away with it!"

"Sirius, while I appreciate the thought behind it, I'm not _your_ Minnie. You know I don't like even being called Minnie," Minnie attempted to tell him.

He wouldn't listen, "You are too good and loyal and…teachery to be spit on, Minnie! I will not allow it!"

Minnie smiled a soft smile and I think Sirius may have finally, after all those years of jokes and sucking up, he finally may have warmed her heart a little. "Harry thought a similar thing." She said. When she saw all our confused looks she smiled, "When Amycus spat at me, Harry suddenly appeared in the room. He must have had on his Invisibility Cloak—yes, James I know about the Cloak," she added when James started to speak. "I only found out about it after you had died but really, it explains how you got away with so much while you were at Hogwarts."

James and Sirius smirked. "It was a useful escape tool." Remus admitted with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Minnie continued, "So Harry jumps out from the Cloak and uses the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus. I was horrified, but also a little impressed."

We all sat starting open-mouthed at her. "He…Harry used the Cruciatus Curse?" Lily whispered as if she hadn't heard properly.

Minnie nodded solemnly, while Tonks said, "You can't be that shocked, Lily. With everything that was going on at the time, especially with what those disgusting Death Eaters were doing to those kids, you can't really blame him. Besides, with what Harry had been through, of course he would know of it and how to use it."

"I don't think he knew how to use it," Minnie corrected her. At our confused looks she explained, "It did work on Amycus. Well, not to its full extent. He looked like he was in pain but then he was just knocked out. Then Harry looked at me and said, 'I see what Bellatrix meant, you really have to mean it.' Which led me to believe that he had tried once and it didn't work because he didn't really wish to harm someone."

"Of course he wouldn't," Remus smiled, "He's Harry. He's too good to really mean too much harm on someone. But after what that Carrow did to you, Minnie…well, I can't say I don't blame him."

Minnie smiled at Remus and I couldn't help but notice how even though everyone teased her and joked with her, we all did love Minerva McGonagall. With all the love in the room, I had an inkling that Sirius, for perhaps once in his life, was right.

She was _our _Minnie.

**REMUS:**

Minnie seemed to really appreciate my comment which made me smile. I had always admired her, as a teacher and as a person, during school and after. She had a kind of wisdom that you could see before she had even opened her mouth and an authority that made her kind of scary if you, like Sirius so often did—sometimes on purpose but most of the time by accident—got on her bad side. But it was her loyalty, to the people she knew, to her house and to her school that really made me appreciate her.

Though she had these wonderful qualities that I so liked, she was a rather stern woman, and always had been to my knowledge, so seeing that my comment touched her made me very pleased with myself. It showed me that she did appreciate what we said and that she did take some things to heart. Hopefully on the good things and compliments, not the insults and stupid nicknames that Padfoot so helpfully provided on a daily basis.

"It's amusing that you should all stick up for me like this," she was saying, smiling at us all, "You remind me of Harry. I was quite shocked when he just appeared out of thin air and Crucioed Amycus and when I asked him why he did that he just said because he spat at me. I was…well, rather touched. It was very brave and stupid of him but I was heartened that he still felt his loyalty to his school and to his house to defend me like that."

"I'm sure it wasn't just his loyalty to his school and house, Minnie," Lily said, with a proud smile on her face, "It would also have been loyalty to you. You were his teacher and his guidance. I know for a fact that you stood up for him on a number of occasions and I'd like to think that he really did care for you."

"Thank you Lily, I'd like to think so too," Minnie agreed, her eyes slightly misty. She shook her head slightly and continued on. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Though she allowed herself the occasional emotional moments, Minnie was still the same tough, ordered woman that appeared in and out of the Transfiguration classroom. "Harry then informed me that Voldemort was indeed on his way. This revelation, combined with the sudden appearance of Luna Lovegood from under the Invisibility Cloak was all a bit much, I'm afraid and I had to sit for a moment to even begin to comprehend what this could mean for Harry and for the school, students and staff."

Sirius chuckled, "Must have been getting a bit old, Minnie. Having to sit down to think things through," he shook his head, "I must say I'm slightly disappointed."

"Padfoot, you can't think things through even when you_ are _sitting down," James pointed out, "You need to be sitting or lying down, with a cushion and a snack before you can absorb even the slightest bit of information."

"Hey!" Sirius said indignantly, "That's mean, Prongs! And so not—"

"Don't even try, mate," I said shaking my head at him gently, "We all know its true."

Sirius looked around the room, and seeing us all nod, he dropped his head into his hands. "Fine." Then he waved his hand at Minnie carelessly, "Please continue Oh Wise One."

Minnie looked like she was going to disagree with the new nickname but evidently decided it wasn't worth the breath. "I tried to convince Harry to get out and flee but he wouldn't do it. He told me that he had to find the Diadem of Ravenclaw, which completely baffled me because it hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Of course, once he told me that he couldn't leave and that he was acting on Dumbledore's orders I knew what I had to do. We left the Tower to secure the castle. If Voldemort was coming to Hogwarts I knew had to do my absolute best in protecting the castle and the students in it. It was nothing less then my duty."

"Woo, Minnie!" Nikki cheered, "Protector of Hogwarts against the forces of evil! Wait—what about the Carrows? Did you just leave them there?"

"Oh no, I tied them up," Minnie said with a casual wave of her hand. I found this to be surprising and quite out of her character. Minnie tying up fellow teachers? Even if they were Death Eaters it was quite unbelievable.

When I told her that she merely shrugged, stunning all of us even more, "Voldemort was coming to Hogwarts and I couldn't be slowed down by to stupid lumps that are the Carrows. I had had enough of them and could no longer care about the consequences."

"Minnie!" Sirius gasped in an awe-filled voice that I'm sure mirrored all our thoughts at that moment, "You're my favourite person in the whole world!" He then jumped out of his seat to hug her gleefully.

She shook her head and pushed him off but I could see a smile on her face. "Minnie, you're such a badass—tying up Death Eaters without a care in the world." James grinned.

"Don't be silly, James," She said, "I was just protecting my students." He gave her a casual shrug that showed that he didn't believe her but she just moved on. "At Harry's suggestion we decided that the best way to evacuate the students was through a secret passage the led to the Hogs Head pub in Hogsmeade—"

"What?" James and Sirius said loudly before looking at me in confusion. I knew what he was thinking: 'what secret passage to Hogs Head?' After all, we had known every secret passage in and out of Hogwarts while we were there.

I smiled at him, "It only appeared in the Room of Requirement when one needed it most. So of course we didn't know about it. I only found out after I was told by Kingsley. I was rather shocked and kind of insulted that we didn't know about it."

"Damn right!" Sirius shouted, "How could we not know about it? That's just embarrassing."

"The tunnel is hardly important to the story!" Minnie snapped and we all shut up so she could continue, "We gathered the other Heads of House and I informed them of what was happening. They were shocked and scared, naturally, but all willing to perform their duties to protect Hogwarts. After I minor run-in with Severus—"

"A _run-in_ with Snape?" James said, "I don't think that could possibly be seen as minor."

"It's minor to the story," Minnie said, "he was suspicious of the whereabouts of the Carrows and we got in a little bit of duel." As we gaped at her she shook her head bitterly, "He escaped and acted rather like a coward. I now know the truth behind all his actions but I'm afraid to say that at the time I rather felt the need to kill him."

I couldn't quite comprehend the woman sitting in front of me. It was like I was seeing her in an entirely new light. She had instincts to kill people and she tied up Death Eaters without a second thought and put her life on the line to defend her school. My admiration for her seemed to be increasing by the second.

Everone else was just as shocked.

"Minnie!" Tonks gasped, "You wanted to kill a fellow teacher! Wait! Not even a teacher, the _Headmaster of Hogwarts_! You duelled and then was annoyed that he got away alive? YOU'RE A TOTAL ROCKSTAR!"

_Man, I love my wife._

**TONKS:**

Minnie was just blowing my mind. Well, this whole day had pretty much blown my mind. I was having the time of my life, sitting here with my friends—Lily and James Potter, hell yeah!—listening to one of my favourite teachers tell stories about one of my favourite people I had ever known. She captured our attention so greatly with her wonderful story-telling-ways and her completely knew and different insights to events that

I had completely forgotten about. Sure, I really enjoyed the Marauder's tales of humour and mischief (sometimes I can't believe I'm _married _to one of those complete geniuses/idiots) but Minnie's stories took the cake. I didn't even think of calling her Minnie before I heard Sirius calling her that. Now, it's the only way I refer to her, even in my head.

I mean, sure, I had always admired her but only because she was so smart and completely intimidating. She always had this kind of aura of wisdom and greatness but I had no idea she could be such a total _rebel._

To say it impressed me would have been the understatement of the century.

Everyone, including me, was gaping at her as if she had just Apparated in front of us wearing nothing but a tiny tartan towel and Gryffindor beanie.

_Ew, there's an image._

I shook my head in an effort to clear the mental image that I had just brought upon myself. When, to my immense relief I seemed to have removed the nightmare from my brain I realised that Minnie was speaking again.

"…then we gathered all the students in the Great Hall to evacuate them all. As we were about to leave, Voldemort announced that if we were to give up Harry to him, we would all be spared. Now, I'm sure that the thought of actually doing as he ordered barely crossed anyone's mind…except the Slytherins. Or more specifically, Pansy Parkinson. She stood up and pointed to Harry, demanding that we all grab him so this could be all over with." Minnie shook her head with a smile.

"I have to say, I have never seen a display of such loyalty and courage in my entire life then at that moment. All the Gryffindors stood up at once and instead of turning to Harry to grab him, as I suspect Miss Parkinson and even Harry thought they would, they turned to face her, wands raised in defence. Then the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs did the exact same thing, almost in unison. Everyone was standing, facing away from Harry, defending him against one, cowardly Slytherin."

Lily promptly burst into tears and even James looked rather misty-eyed. I smiled, remembering that exact moment and being completely taken-aback by the dedication those students had to Harry. I had to hold in tears myself at the time.

I couldn't help but voice my memory, "I was there and I saw Harry's face as everyone did that. He looked so shocked—completely surprised—and so incredibly touched that it made me cry. He never expected that kind of reaction in a million years."

Remus nodded, "It was the perfect way to sum up how not only the school, but also the rest of the Wizarding World felt about Harry. We would have protected him with everything we had, to the very end."

Sobbing still, Lily said, "That is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard. All those people, all those children, standing up for my boy…my little Harry." She dissolved into tears again while James rubbed her back comfortingly.

"That's amazing," Nikki said in wonder.

Minnie smiled, "It was. It made me rather emotional but we had to push through. We evacuated all the younger students. Many of them wanted to stay behind but I wouldn't risk the lives of anyone who wasn't necessary. Almost all the Gryffindors wanted to stay and fight but I couldn't have my house out of anyone risked like that." She seemed to swallow back the pride that was building in her voice, "After assigning jobs of protection and lookout and such…we started fighting."

I swallowed and closed my eyes. I wasn't sure I was ready for this. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear all her stories, her experiences from those last few hours of my life. Remus took my hand and I knew he was feeling the same way. That Battle at Hogwarts was the last thing we will ever remember and I knew that we didn't really want to be reminded.

"I won't go into too much detail of the Battle," Minnie said to my everlasting relief, "It wasn't a particularly good time for me or for anyone who participated. We lost a lot of great people who didn't deserve to die," I looked up to find that she was staring sadly at Remus and I, and my eyes filled with tears in an instant. The look on her face, so unhappy and painful almost broke my shaky façade.

No one spoke for a long moment. Not even Sirius, though I knew he wanted to hear the details of the epic battle. He may be immature and silly sometimes but I knew that he had a big heart and a surprising amount of brains, considering his actions.

After a few minutes Minnie started speaking again, but in a voice that was a lot softer then it had been. "I have no idea how long it was until the fighting was put on hold. Voldemort announced that he would retreat his Death Eaters and he wanted Harry Potter within an hour." She shook her head, "We all knew that we wouldn't give Harry up, not after all the pain and effort we had just been through to protect him. But that was at the back of our minds—we had to collect our friends: the injured and the…victims." She glanced at Remus and I again.

I blinked and my tears finally escaped as I realised something. "I don't remember…" I gasped, the tears falling faster, "I don't remember any of that. The announcement, the battle stopping…I was already dead. I was gone before any of this happened."

I heard someone gasp, probably Lily or Nikki. I could hear someone crying but all I could feel was pain.

I was one of those victims. Remus was one of those victims. Someone, probably someone we knew, had to look at us, lifeless and still, pick up our bodies, and carry us away. That thought made me sob. I couldn't imagine who it would have been. I didn't want to know.

Remus's grip on my hand was tighter then ever and I looked up to see two tears slowly streaking down his cheeks. He couldn't remember this either. We were both already gone.

"Those long minutes were possibly the worst in my life," Minnie sighed, her voice breaking. I looked at her to see her crying too. I was too upset to even be shocked about the emotion that I could see in her face. It was more then I had ever seen on her. "All those people, they shouldn't have died. I knew almost all of them. Some were from the Ministry, from Hogsmeade, but most were from the school. So many young students, their lives cut short."

Her words made me think of Fred. Funny, lively Fred Weasley. My sobs were now loud and throaty but I couldn't hold them back. I could still clearly remember the shock and horror I had felt when I first saw Fred standing there at the Diamond Gates, waiting for me. My first thought was that I was seeing things. I couldn't imagine the Weasleys without one of the siblings. I couldn't imagine George without Fred.

"And you two…" I looked up to Minnie who was watching me, pain etched in every line on her face, "You can't imagine what I felt when I saw your bodies lying there. Two of the best people I had ever known…two of the bravest and smartest students to ever pass through the halls of Hogwarts, two of the most talented wizards I had ever met…and you were gone. I could hardly believe it." She was practically sobbing now and mine grew louder with her compliments.

Remus and I both got up to hug her at the same time, flattered and heartbroken.

After we had sat down again and calmed slightly Minnie said quietly, "I saw Harry, you know. He came in a few minutes after we had settled everyone in the Great Hall. He saw everyone, all the injured and dead, and I had never seen him more pale. Then he saw Fred…and my heart broke for him. The look on his face as he saw all the Weasleys huddled around their family but then he saw you two." I tried to swallow with my thick throat and I heard a strangled sob come from Remus, "He looked like he was going to pass out and vomit and burst into tears in one. I had never seen him in so much pain in the years that I had known him. He was so devastated. He turned and ran out of the Hall before he could see me watching him."

I was sobbing loudly again, wishing I could see Harry, wanting with all my heart to tell him that it wasn't his fault, that I willingly died for him. But I couldn't, no matter how much I wanted.

Looking around the room, the pain on everyone's faces struck me silent for a moment. James had his head in his hands, looking like he couldn't hear about his son in pain any longer. Lily was crying audibly, one hand clutching her husbands arm like it was her lifeline. Nikki was crying too, but in complete silence. Tears were falling down her cheeks thick and fast, her breaths coming quickly but I could hear nothing, only see her pain. Sirius wasn't crying, just staring straight ahead, pain drawn on his face and tears in his eyes.

I looked at Remus who was swallowing and wiping his eyes, attempting to calm himself but we both knew it was no use. The tears were coming to quickly, the pain just too much for the both of us.

Suddenly, I looked up and Lily and James were kneeling in front of us. Neither of them were crying anymore and though the pain was still clear in their eyes they smiled slightly.

Lily took my hands in hers but glanced between Remus and I. "Thank you," she whispered, a single tear escaping from her eyes, "You died for my son…so he could live and fight. I-I just can't thank you enough."

She burst into tears again as I hugged her tightly. As we clutched at each other tightly I heard James say, "What you did, you're sacrifice means so much to us and to Harry. You helped save the world. And…I know this sounds selfish and inappropriate but I don't care. I'm kind of glad you died, because…well I got my best friend back," he grinned at Remus who shook his head and laughed but his eyes filled with tears again. "And got a great new friend as well," he smiled at me and I let go of Lily with one arm to squeeze one of his hands.

Because he had said exactly what I was thinking. Although I was devastated to have died at that time, unable to see Harry prevail or to raise Teddy as my own, I was almost glad I did. I was reunited with my husband, the wonderful man I thought I could never have, and I met the people who I had always wanted to know. I was happy here.

And for the moment, that was all that mattered.

**JAMES:**

I had never, in the entire time I had known her, seen Minerva McGonagall display emotion like she was now. I had always seen her as a very stern, harsh woman. Brilliant, feisty and awesome, but strong to the extreme. Now, watching her cry, it was like someone had just plonked me down into an alternate universe where Minnie was wussy, quiet and a girl to the max.

And that was just weird.

After Lil and I had thanked Tonks and Rem—who I had also never seen show so much emotion, for the record—from the bottom of our hearts, we returned to our seats, trying to calm our emotions and waiting for everyone else to do the same.

I desperately wanted Minnie to continue with the story, but I didn't know if I could stand hearing it. This was my son. My boy was in pain for almost this entire story and it only put me through torture. It had been bad enough waiting and wondering if I would see his name one day on our screen, or if it would be Voldemort's…but hearing it now, like this, made it all too real.

Minnie had obviously had enough of the emotions. She wiped her eyes, then tapped her cheek lightly, as if to wake herself up. I suspected that if she was alone she would have given herself a proper slap.

Straightening her shoulders, she said, "I didn't see Harry for a while after he ran from the Hall. Not until…" she shook her head and wiped her eye again. _Oh no, more emotion._

"The hour was almost up. We had cleared most of the victims and I was getting worried. Harry hadn't appeared after I had seen him run from the room and part of me wondered whether he had turned himself in. I knew that he wasn't above doing that," She smiled slightly, almost fondly and it in turn made me smile. My son was brave, and loyal to a fault. It was a fortunate or unfortunate, however you choose to look at it, combination of both Lily and I.

"But then, Voldemort made an announcement. He said that Harry Potter was dead, that he had died while running away and that we should all come out of the castle and kneel before him to be spared." She shook her head bitterly as I swallowed the lump in my throat. I knew he hadn't died, but the pain still stunned me.

"No one wanted to believe it. Least of all me. To be quiet honest, I had become rather fond of Harry and the thought that he could be dead was very painful for me to even think about, let alone hear in that way." Minnie sighed, "But, apart from the personal level, the thought that everything we were fighting for could be over, that all the good in the world had been destroyed in one tiny moment was horrifying. For everyone there. I don't think anyone could even absorb it."

She shook her head, her eyes stuck to the ground. Little wisps of hair had fallen out of her bun during the hours that she had spent sitting here, telling us these wonderful stories. A while ago, when I had first noticed those stray bits of hair, I had liked seeing them. When we were alive, whenever I saw Minnie, whether it was at school or later, at the Order of the Phoenix meetings, she always had her hair in a tight bun, (not the most attractive look on a woman) and not a single frizz to be seen. But sitting opposite her, and seeing her hair out of place had been refreshing. It was a reminder that she was human and although she was a teacher, and a rather strict one at that, she was capable of human emotions.

However, that was before she started telling this story. This scary, heartbreaking story. Now those flying hairs made her look exhausted, like she had lived a thousand painful lives. It might have just been the expression on her face, but I wanted to get up and comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be all right. She knew the end of the story, she knew it ended well—we all did—but the pain that was clear on her features made me think otherwise.

I knew that the look on her face was only a pale imitation of the horror and sadness she would have felt on that night. And that thought terrified me. I couldn't even begin to think how desperate everyone would have felt. For the first time ever, I was glad to be dead. I didn't have to experience the pain that they had been feeling. I couldn't even _begin _to imagine what it would have felt like for me to think that my son was dead. It was my _son._ Even with that thought the pain was excruciating and I couldn't help but wince. Lily put her hand in mine and I knew she was thinking the same thing.

Minnie's voice was getting lower and slightly more strangled, "I didn't want to believe it, I didn't let myself believe it…until I saw him. He was lying in Hagrid's arms, looking lifeless and still. Hagrid, who I knew cared for Harry very much, was sobbing, his huge body heaving. I couldn't help the scream that came out of my mouth and even I was surprised by the shock and pain in it. I think it showed how I was really feeling. My mind hadn't caught up with my body yet." She shut her eyes tightly and I had to swallow again, the tears building up in my eyes and throat. I could hear Lily gasping sobs beside me but when I looked at her she wasn't crying as much as I had thought. A few tears were escaping, but her sobs were full of pain and I was beginning to think she had almost cried out her tear supply…if that was possible.

I turned to Moony—because if anyone would be able to tell me if your tears could run out it would be him—but he had his head on his hands, his shoulders shaking slightly. Tonks was crying again but silently this time, Nikki doing the same. And Sirius was still silent, as he had been for a while, which was abnormal enough. But instead of sitting quiet and tearless, he was crying, tears on his face and his hands shaking a little. Just the sight of my best friend crying for my son was enough to make me gasp and a few tears escape.

No. I would not cry. My son was fine. He was safe and happy right now, surrounded by his kids and grandkids…Harry was fine.

But why did I still feel like he wasn't?

My mind was still in turmoil when Minnie continued, "The Death Eaters were standing behind Voldemort, who was next to Hagrid. They were grinning at us, enjoying our pain as people slowly filtered out onto the steps. Gasping and crying at what they saw. Bellatrix Lestrange was even laughing. Really enjoying our pain and loss."

Sirius finally broke, shooting up and knocking over the small table next to the couch he was sitting on. For a moment I could have smiled—that was the same table he had tripped over many years ago, when Dumbledore had told us that Harry, while he was a Horcrux, didn't have to die.

He started pacing the room, running his hand through his hair in agitation. "Of course she was laughing—she's a heartless, soulless, unhappy, harpy bitch. She's like a human Dementor: she thrives on everyone else's pain and sadness." He stopped his marching at the wall at the end of the living room, slamming his head against it then punching it with his fist, yelling in frustration.

Nikki jumped up and grabbed his arm, trying to calm him and pull him back to the couch. "Sirius…" she was sobbing still, attempting to get her words out, "Please. I know this is hard, it is for all of us. Please, _please_…sit down." She was overcome by her sobs and her words were drowned out.

Sirius took one look at her before wrapping her in his arms, rocking her gently as she cried into his chest. Eventually she calmed down enough for him to lead her back to the couch where they sat, still close together, gaining comfort from one another.

Minnie seemed to think that she should continue before another person had a random outburst. "The worst part of seeing Harry there, apart from thinking he was dead, was the reactions of the people who knew him. The people who loved him and who he loved. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were the worst. They yelled and screamed in pain, all three of them white as sheets. Ginny even swayed a little, and Neville had to catch her and stand her upright again." She paused for a moment and I saw Lily and Tonks wipe tears from their eyes.

"Voldemort tried to tell us that he was killed while running away, which I didn't believe for a second. I knew that he had handed himself in and I think everyone else did too. Voldemort tried to tell us that it was over, but the crowd fought back. Neville Longbottom even ran forward to charge at Voldemort but he was struck down quick and fast. I thought I was going to be sick as Voldemort and Bellatrix tormented him. I wouldn't stand for anymore of my Gryffindors to be hurt. But Neville fought back and Voldemort's Silence Charms didn't seem to be able to hold on the crowd. He put the Sorting Hat on Neville's head, then set it on fire just to show what happened to people who disobeyed the great Lord Voldemort." Minnie's rare sarcasm came out, along with her hatred for the evil wizard.

"I couldn't stand it. Once that hat went up in flames I knew I needed to act. But then the giants started fighting, almost crushing everyone on the ground, then the centaurs came out of the Forbidden Forest, shooting their arrows at the Death Eaters and charging towards us. And Neville, showing his great Gryffindor courage, pulled the Gryffindor Sword out of the Sorting Hat—surprising us all—and cut the head off Voldemort's serpent Nagini."

Tonks and Nikki gasped, clapping their hands to their mouths while the rest of us sat and stared. I was impressed, so impressed I was in shock. Neville had not only pulled the Gryffindor Sword out of the Sorting Hat, like Harry had done all those years ago, but he had been brave enough to kill Nagini, the one thing that meant anything to Voldemort.

Sirius, always articulate, summed up exactly what I was feeling. "Woot! GO NEVILLE!"

And for the first time in what seemed like hours, everyone smiled.

**SIRIUS:**

I was bloody exhausted.

This day had gone forever! It was fun and everything, talking to Minnie, getting all these amazing stories out of her…but now it was too hard, too emotional, too much of a downer. This was not what I wanted. I wanted us to have fun while listening to the brave, adventurous tales of Harry Potter. I wanted to laugh and joke with my closest friends and favourite Minnie.

All this emotion running through me was wearing me out. And I wanted to get to the good stuff! Finally, it seemed like we were getting there.

Don't get me wrong, Minnie was a champion. I never knew a professor who seemed to have such a huge wand up her ass, but who could tell such a good story the way Minnie did. I always knew she was awesome, but I never knew how totally, completely, _bloody awesome_ she was. She just went around acting normal, putting me in detention, giving Lilyflower and Moony all the house points, teaching us stuff…but really she could tie up Death Eaters and try to kill other professors and defend her school with such power that shocked the pants off me.

She was like a super-hero. Super Minnie.

But she wasn't acting super at the moment. She wasn't even saying anything. That had to change.

"So what happened next?" I demanded, hoping to catch a glimpse of Super Minnie again.

She shook her head, "I don't really know, quite frankly. Voldemort charged at Neville, to take revenge on his snake, but he seemed to be stopped by something. A Shield Charm that appeared out of thin air. Then I head Hagrid yelling something about Harry, but I couldn't hear it properly because everyone was running back into the castle and I was getting pulled along in the crowd. Thestrals had suddenly appeared and were attacking the Death Eaters, and I could have sworn I saw Buckbeak the Hippogriff at one point—"

I cut her off with a gasp. _Buckbeak._ I had missed that crazy, winged thing. He was like a friend/pet to me for years as I was hiding away and I hadn't head about him for a long time.

"Of course," I said with a fond smile, "Buckbeak is a very brave Hippogriff. He would have been supporting Harry, for sure."

Minnie gave me a strange look but she had given me so many before that it didn't really count. She continued, "Even the elves from the kitchen got in on the battle, stabbing the Death Eaters with knives and things from the kitchens." Everyone laughed for the first time in what seemed like years and the tension lifted a lot. "Then I saw Voldemort. He was duelling Kingsley and Horace Slughorn and it looked like he was winning. I wouldn't let him take anyone else I cared about so I got in there as well, fighting him with everything I had."

"Whoa Minnie!" James cried, as everyone else gasped, "You duelled with Voldemort? AWESOME!"

"YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF AWESOME!" Nikki shouted, jumping over to Minnie and ruffling her hair, making her look rather annoyed. "All hail Totally Badass Queen Minnie of Awesomeness!"

"Hail!" Remmy and I dropped to our knees and bowed to her, grinning the whole time.

She smiled possibly the widest smile I had ever seen on her face and it made me full of victory. It was about the size of my tiniest smile, but still…it was the biggest for her. _Yay!_

"Minnie, you do realise what this means, right?" Tonks said, almost running around Minnie's chair in circles with excitement. "You duelled with Voldemort and lived to tell the tale! How many people can do that? That's just SO COOL!"

"I suppose it is," she mused as if she had never thought about it before. Then, before anyone could happily yell anything else, she said, "May I finish my story?"

"Go ahead your Highness," Nikki giggled as she sat on the floor in front Minnie as if she was a little child listening to her favourite story book. It looked like the best seat to be for the next part so I joined her, folding my legs and sitting up as straight as possible. I knew Minnie loved excited students—you couldn't be too enthusiastic when it came to Minnie.

She chuckled lightly at our antics—another victory for me. She never finds my actions funny!—and said, "We duelled for a little but even with the three of us against him, Voldemort was still going strong and it was really wearing us out. Everyone else had stopped fighting to watch the two duels going on. Then something distracted all of us for the tiniest second. Mrs Weasley came running out of the crowd, going for Bellatrix who had been duelling Ginny, Hermione and Luna at once. Apparently, though I didn't see it at the time, Ginny had just dodged one of Bellatrix's Killing Curses by an inch and Mrs Weasley wasn't very happy about it. I believe she called Bellatrix a bitch." Minnie chuckled again and almost everyone in the room gaped at Mrs Weasley's actions.

I couldn't help it. I jumped up from my seat and yelled, as if I was actually there, "GO MRS WEASLEY! KILL THAT…well, BITCH!"

Lily gasped loudly, "Oh Merlin, Mrs Weasely doesn't die. She never came up here that night." She broke out into a huge grin, "She beats Bellatrix doesn't she?"

Minnie smiled, "Well, I can't really say too much because I wasn't watching their duel, being a little pre-occupied fighting the most powerful wizard in the world, but I do know when it ended. I could hear Bellatrix laughing and taunting poor Molly about her children being killed," everyone in the room winced for Mrs Weasely, except me. I couldn't contain my grin. I knew that Bella saying something like that would only enrage Molly to epic proportions. And I knew from experience that when Molly was mad, you had to run or you would be toast. It was the first time ever I was glad Molly Weasley was mad.

Bellatrix was toast.

"All I know is that suddenly Bellatrix stopped laughing and everyone cheered. Then Voldemort, realised what had happened, and sent the most powerful Disarming Spell I have ever felt at Slughorn, Kingsley and I. We went flying backwards and he went for Mrs Weasley, the victor of the duel."

"WOOOO!" Everyone cheered for Molly, overjoyed and relieved at that outcome.

I stood there, stunned for a moment. It was Mrs Weasely. She was the one who had finally finished my horrible cousin. "THANK YOU MOLLY!" I yelled at the floor in an effort to convey my gratitude to Earth, "I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL, YOU WONDERFUL WOMAN!"

Minnie grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and shoved me back to the floor, "Black, I'm almost finished here so could you please shut up, just for a little bit. No more interruptions." When I sat back down properly and she decided she had our attention, she said, "Voldemort never got to Mrs Weasley, though. He was stopped by a very strong Shield Charm that came from nowhere, right in between them. Then Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak."

"YAY!" Lily interrupted her with a happy shriek. When everyone turned to look at her in amusement, she shrugged. "What? I'm happy, okay? Pretty much everyone is alright, Minnie fought with Voldemort and lived to tell the tale, Molly beat Bellatrix and Harry's alive. Don't you think that's reason to celebrate?"

Only one thing in that whole speech had caught my attention. "You called her Minnie!"

She looked at me with amusement and impatience, "Yes, Siri, I called her Minnie. Is that okay?"

I thought it over for a second. Really, it was okay with me. Although I had made up the nickname for only myself to use within my first year at Hogwarts, James had quickly caught on. And while I did want it only for myself, being the caring and selfless person that I am, I let him use it as well. It took a couple of years for Moony and Nikki to get into the habit but that was okay too. I hadn't even noticed that Tonks had started using it, she was just such a natural, so I couldn't really argue with that. But Lily?

"No," I decided, shaking my head, "You sound weird saying it. No offence Lilyflower, but you're too nice and proper to use a fun nickname like that."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine. It's a stupid name anyway."

"It is not stupid!" I gasped.

"MAY I CONTINUE?" Minnie yelled over Lily's retort.

"No." I said simply.

She looked at me in shock for a second before finding her voice. "No?"

"No," I repeated, "You've told us the story and its been the best ever but you can stop now if you want. We know how the rest of it goes."

"Really?" she looked surprised, "So you know that they just circle each other for a while and Harry tells us all that Severus was good after all?"

"Yep."

"And that Harry finally defeats Voldemort with a simple Disarming Spell because Harry is really the true owner of the Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows which aren't just old legends but really do exist."

"Yep."

She looked blankly at us for a moment and we all looked back happily at her, full of knowledge and stories. "And…you don't have one of you're amusing Marauder anecdotes to share?" She asked almost hesitantly.

"Minnie!" Remus grinned, "You do think they're amusing!" when she glared at him he shrugged, "But no…its kind of hard to top a story like that."

"Oh," she nodded, looking thoughtful.

Nikki gasped, "Is it true? Does Minnie…not want to leave?"

"NO!" Lily cried, "Do you actually _enjoy_ our company?"

"MINNIE!" I yelled happily, skipping over to her and hugging her tightly, "You do love us! You don't want to leave us! You want to stay here together! With us! You want to—"

She cut off my song which offended me a little because it was a pretty damn good song. Actually, I had a lot of good songs but everyone always stopped me before I could sing enough to show them how good they were.

Why is that?

"Well, if I'm done then I guess I will leave." Minnie said, rising from her seat and pulling me off her.

"No Minnie! You can't go!" I cried, grabbing hold of her leg as she tried to walk away.

"Black! Let go of me!"

"NO!"

"LET GO!"

"NEVER!"

"Sirius," Nikki sighed, "let her go. She's had a long day and Her Highness deserves a break."

Minnie smiled at Nikki, "Thank you Nikki, but you can stop calling me your Highness now."

She grinned, "Never."

Suddenly, I had an epiphany (I know, big word. Moony would be proud). Minnie was in Above now, I could see her often. She could come over all the time and tell us more stories about Harry and we could let her in on some Marauder secrets (but not all of them, because they're… you know, secret). But I knew that if I kept pestering her to not leave, she would never want to come back, no matter how much she loved us.

So, as much as it pained me to do so, I let go of her really soft robes and stood up. "Goodbye Minnie," I said quietly. "Go forth and prosper."

"Um, Sirius? Did you just quote Star Trek?" Moony said.

I blinked at him, "Star what-now?"

He looked back at me for a second, obviously trying to work out how clueless I was—very—before sighing. "Never mind."

"Okay, Moony." I grinned, ruffling his hair just to annoy him as we all followed Minnie to the front door.

She waved goodbye to us all, thanking us for the lovely evening. That wouldn't really be the word I would have used but I didn't push her because I wanted to see her again. As she was leaving I couldn't resist, one last time.

"Bye Minnie!" I called out. "Love you!"

**MINNIE:**

I couldn't contain the fond smile as I walked away when I heard Sirius call out in the darkness. He really was completely insane sometimes. It did honestly annoy me most of the time, but I had to admit he had a certain...quality that made him quite likeable despite his irritating jokes. Someone across the street flicked open their blinds and peaked out at the loud noise.

I stopped, looking at the window curiously. The person standing at it gave me a little wave.

I smiled and waved back at Albus before continuing my walk home. I had only gone a few more steps before I stopped again, thinking back over the entire evening. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I had the most fun with those people in that one house then I had had in a long time.

As I continued walking, I allowed words that I had never spoken to anyone else slip out of my lips quietly. "Love you too."

* * *

**Aww Minnie! You gotta love her :) Well, that's all for a while I'm afraid! I know I won't really have time to write much over the next few months so I wanted to get this finished as soon as possible. Honestly, the only thing that was motivating me to write this chapter was the fact that I knew I had to get it done before my life got too hectic. But once I started writing, I just couldn't stop, which hasn't happened to me in a while and it's nice that this final chapter brought back my love for writing in the world of Harry Potter.**

**So to everyone who read not only this story, but just this chapter, thank you! Your desire for this story allowed me to remember my love for writing not only fanfiction, but in general so yay for you!**

**Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone who gave this story a review. I really appreciate it and it makes my day just that much better to come home to find a few more lovely, almost always complimentary reviews waiting for me so thanks! If you have been reading this story but haven't reviewed yet (yes, I'm talking to you) please do so! It makes me very happy and it only takes a few seconds. Any input, good or bad is appreciated.**

**Thank you again, and I hope you all have a happy, safe 2011.**

**gj xx**


End file.
